Two Troubled Souls
by 7yearsdungeon
Summary: AU. SasuNaru. Two souls, connected by a unique bond. Naruto and Sasuke are both pretty messed up in their own ways, dependent on the friendship each has to offer the other. But what happens when their relationship changes completely? And, what will they do when amongst all of the confusion, the past comes back to haunt them?
1. Drunk Dance Revolution

**A/N: I needed a break from my other story, Jealousy, because I was getting writers block and losing inspiration. But, in the midst of writing frustration with that story, I got super inspired to write this. I have some pretty good ideas for this and an AU sounded like fun, so here I am.**

 **WARNING: Strong language, violence, substance abuse...basically, it's angst central up in this bitch.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Kishi-sensei created the characters.**

Naruto Uzumaki entered his classroom and was greeted by an enormous aura of gloom. He stared, blinking, at his classmates as they whispered amongst themselves, frowning. A sick feeling creeped up inside of him as he took his seat beside a pink haired girl with tears in her eyes. He fixed his gaze on the empty seat to the opposite side of him and turned back to the distraut girl beside him.

"Where's Sasuke?" He frowned at her sullen expression and felt the color drain from his face.

"Naruto, you didn't hear? It was all over the news..." She bit her bottom lip and stared at the top of her desk.

"Hear what? Come on Sakura, I'm startin' to freak out, what's going on?" He felt his hands begin to shake as the sickness in his gut grew stronger.

"His older brother...he slaughtered their entire family..." The tears in her eyes spilled over her cheeks and dripped onto her desk. "Poor Sasuke..."

"W-what? A-are you serious? No that has to be wrong...Itachi wouldn't do that!" He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "You're wrong! Is this some kind of sick joke?" Her facial expression confirmed his fear. "W-what about Sasuke? He didn't...he's not..." His stomach turned.

"Sasuke is the only survivor. The news reporter stated that he got knocked out and woke up next to...to the corpses of his family members. Itachi fled and they assume he's already out of the country by now." She covered her face with her hands and sunk lower in her seat. "I feel so bad...I wish I could help him, but I don't know what to say to him or how to act..."

Naruto hadn't learned anything at all that day. He stared blankly at the chalkboard, not really seeing anything, not really hearing anything. He felt his impatience grow stronger throughout the day, determined to run straight to the Uchiha as soon as school ended. He had to see him. He didn't have a clue what he would say but he had to see him.

When the last bell rang, dismissing the students, Naruto darted out of the building and ran several blocks without stopping. He skidded to a hault in front of the Uchiha manor and froze. He stared wide eyed and gaped at the crime scene before him. Caution tape was stretched around the house and chalk outlines were scattered across the ground. The windows had been shattered and blood was splattered against the cobblestone siding.

 _It's true...this is real...it really happened..._

His heart began to pound and his chest tightened. Tears spilled from his eyes as a lump caught in his throat. He turned swiftly on his heel and sprinted down the road. His side ached and his feet were sore. His body screamed in protest as he fought through the pain.

 _This pain is nothing compared to what Sasuke must be feeling. I've gotta see him...I can't just leave him alone after something like this...I need to be there for him..._

Several blocks later he shoved through hospital doors and rushed to the front desk. The secretary jumped in her seat as Naruto slammed his fists down in front of her. Through the heavy, raspy panting she decoded his desperate request to visit Uchiha Sasuke.

"Room 106, top floor. But you should be warned-"

The blond was already sprinting towards the stair-well, there was no time for an elevator. He weezed as he burst through the 3rd floor entrance and ran straight to Sasuke's room. When he opened the door, He found the Uchiha sitting in the far corner of the room, hugging his knees. The room had been trashed, medical supplies littered the floor, the sheets had been thrown off the bed, and every peice of furniture had been flipped over.

"Sasuke..." He crouched down beside him and the Uchiha raised his head, his expression grim. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was ghost-white.

For the first time in his life, Naruto's words failed him. He abandoned the idea of comforting the Uchiha with words and wrapped his arms around him instead. Sasuke sat limply with his arms at his sides for a moment before he gave in. He gripped the orange fabric of Naruto's shirt and let his weight fall on him. He could feel himself losing control and for the first time in his life, he let it happen.

He broke down. His head burried in the crook of Naruto's neck, soaking his shirt with tears. His body shook against the blond's as Naruto pulled him in tighter.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke...I'm so sorry..." It was all he could manage to say.

 **-Fifteen Years Later-**

Sasuke sat with a bottle of vodka in one hand and a butcher knife in the other. His thoughts like venom, poisening him. His vision began to blur, his hands shaking.

 _No, I promised I wouldn't let myself sink this low again. He trusts me not to do this._

With horrible accuracy, the knife was flung across the room. It pierced through the hard wood floor, the blade glowing faintly from the moonlight that poured through the window. The bottom of the bottle greeted the ceiling as he tipped it back, chugging it's contents. His throat burned, his cheeks were on fire.

 _If only I could travel through time and take it all back. If only I could be different. If only I weren't just a damaged freak. I'm a mess...a fucking mess._

A sickening sour feeling churned in his stomach, prompting the Uchiha to scramble out of his living room and stumble into his bathroom where he collapsed onto the hard tile flooring. He immediately purged the alcohol into the procelin bowl, clutching it tightly. His body shook violently as it emptied the toxic contents from his stomach.

 _How many times? How many times am I going to find myself back here? When I am going to get my shit together?_

He stared at his reflection in the mirror. His raven black hair a chaotic mess, his cheeks stained with tear streaks, his eyes bloodshot and tired. He scowled and let his rage fueled by disgust force his fist into the glass, shattering it. Shards of glass littered the sink and floor, a few peices lodged in his pale knuckles.

 _Pathetic._

The pocket of his jeans began to vibrate as Naruto's default ringtone broke the dead silence. He reached for his phone with trembling hands, fumbling it and catching it before it hit the floor. He stared at the blond's picture for a moment before sliding the green icon and putting the phone to his ear.

" _ **What?"**_ He cringed at the harshness in his own voice.

"I'm sorry. Come back." The blond sounded exhausted. He should, too. He had been through this little charade more times than either of them could count.

"If I get in my car, people will die. I will also probably die. But that wouldn't be such a bad thing anyway I guess. Yeah sure, I'll come back over." His words were slurred despite his attempt to mask his intoxication.

"God damn it, bastard, you're drunk. Don't you dare get in that car. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Don't do anything stupid. Put the bottle away, you've had enough." He hung up abruptly, sending the Uchiha back into the silence of his dark house.

 _No don't come over here! You can't see me like this!_

He leaned his back against the wall and slid to the floor. His eyes squeezed shut as he racked his brain for something proper to tell the blond once he arrived. His brain failed him. Instead, his thoughts betrayed him, leading him into a memory he couldn't rid himself of despite his many efforts to supress it.

And just like that, he was back in the Uchiha manor. The corpses of his loved ones piled around him, the stench of blood and death permeated the air. And his brother was nowhere to be found. He cringed as he saw clearly the bodies of his parents. His father's stoic face frozen in a deep frown, his mother's eyes wide with panic...

A loud knock on his door snapped the Uchiha out of his memory. He shook the negative thoughts out of his head and got to his feet. When he opened the door, Naruto immediately stormed past him. Upon entering the detroyed living room, he stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned to glare at the Uchiha.

"You serious, bastard? What's with all the empty bottles? What happened to your hand? And what the fuck is up with this butcher knife stuck in the floor?! Sasuke, what is going on?"

Naruto had played damage control several times before this. Normally, though, he'd arrive to find Sasuke half-way down a bottle of vodka and slurring some nonsense about wanting to hunt his brother down. The worst case he had seen thus far was Sasuke laying on his living room floor with a slit in his wrist, wreaking of alcohol, and drenched in his own blood. The next day, as he layed in a hospital bed, Sasuke had made a promise that he would never do anything like that again.

"Answer me, bastard! Why the fuck is that knife there? You fucking promised me! God damn it, Sasuke-"

"The knife is in the floor, not my chest. Calm the fuck down, moron." He glared at the blond before running his hand through his hair with a sigh. "Sorry, I'm jus a lil' drunk. I don't wanna fight with you."

"A little drunk?! You're wasted! Come on, tell me why you're having another episode. You've been all aggitated this entire day and you haven't told me why. I mean, I know that you're always irritable but...something had to have happened to make you do this again. Our fight wasn't even that bad, or at least we've had worse, so it's gotta be somethin' else." His blue eyes locked with Sasuke's obsidian.

"Fifteen years today." He averted his eyes and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Oh." Naruto scratched the back of his head and lowered his voice. "Man, I'm sorry. I can't believe I forgot...why didn't you just talk to me about it?"

"We got into that fight'n I was pissed. Besides, ya' know I hate talking about my _feelings."_ He spit the last word out as if it were poison.

"Yeah and see where that gets you? Two years ago it put you in the hospital...if I hadn't sensed that somethin' was wrong when you didn't answer my call...if I hadn't shown up here..." They both stared at the floor, the silence returning.

"Listen, why're you even here now? I thought you said you were done with my bullshit? I thought I was jus a burden and you're worn out." He inwardly cringed at how sloppy his words came out.

"You know I didn't mean it. You said some pretty awful things too, bastard. Did you mean it when you called me pathetic?" He narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha who struggled to keep his poker face.

"Tch. You shouldn't have drug me to that party. I told you I didn't wanna go." His blood began to boil as he recalled the day's earlier events.

 **-earlier that day-**

When Sasuke walked through the door to Naruto's apartment, the blond was on his cell-phone. He leaned against his kitchen counter, grinning widely.

"No way! Congrats dude!...Seriously? Nice!...Can I bring-...oh come on he's not that bad, I'll keep him in line...he needs to get out, just give him a chance...awesome! So what time?...alright, cool, I'll see you tonight! Congrats, again, man!" He set his phone aside and jumped when he noticed the Uchiha standing with his arms crossed a few feet away.

"Who was that and where are you dragging me this time?" His eyes narrowed as he glared at the blond.

"Oh, uh, that was Kiba. He finally grew a pair and proposed to Hinata! She said yes of course so to celebrate he's throwing a party at his place. Everyone's gonna be there, the whole crew back together! It's gonna be awesome!" His enthusiasm failed to excite the Uchiha.

"I'm not going. He doesn't want me there anyway and I'm fairly certain no one else does either." He brushed past the blond and opened his fridge, rummaging through it before pulling out a pitcher of iced tea.

"Come on, Sasuke! You need to get out! Stop being so judgemental, will ya? If you gave them a chance you'd actually have a good time." He pleaded to his uncaring friend, unsuccesfully.

"Why am I the one you're telling to be less judgemental? They're the one's who never liked me. Well...okay I never liked them either...but that's beside the point." He poured the tea into a glass and sipped, disgust covering his face. "You sweetened it."

"Sorry, I forgot you like to come steal my tea and then bitch about how sweet it is. I'll be more considerate next time." The blond crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, bastard, they wouldn't have a problem with you if you'd just be more friendly. You're always sulking and insulting people. Besides, it doesn't make any sense that of all people, I'm your only friend. You tell me every day that I'm annoying and stupid so if you can handle me then why not give them a chance?"

"You're different, moron. You've been my best friend since we were five. And one annoying friend is all I can take, okay? I don't need a lot of friends like you do, I'm perfectly content with just one." He slid his tea to Naruto, and poured himself a glass of water.

"Damn it, Sasuke! You're going to this party! I will drag you by your duck butt hair if I have to, I swear to God, do not test me!" His anger increased the longer the Uchiha held his uncaring expression.

"Why? What's the point? You're being stupid." He rolled his eyes and sipped his water. "And say one more thing about my hair and I'll deck you. You know I can't help it, it does whatever it wants."

"I'm not being stupid, you are! It's a party, it's fun! Just freakin' go!"

"Again, I'm not seeing the point." His poker face irking the blond, driving him further into his rage.

"Because, bastard, you cling to me like a lost freakin' puppy! You need to let more people in! Maybe you wouldn't be such a mess if you had more friends. Why are you so against being happy?" His fists clenched at his sides. He just wanted to help his friend, that's all he wanted. But, the damn bastard had a tendancy of making it hard on him.

"I do not cling to you! Don't make me out to be some pathetic loser, you fucking dobe. I don't like people, I don't like 'letting people in', I do not enjoy parties, and I am perfectly fucking happy the way I am!" He tightened his grip on his water and his poker face had shattered, revealing anger.

"Fine. Then, will you just come to the party for me? Just come with, Sasuke. If it's lame, or if you really end up hating it, we'll leave."

"Just say the word and you'll ditch your precious friends?"

"Yeah, we'll split and order a pizza or somethin' and play Mortal Kombat all night instead. Just come hang out with me. And you might actually have fun at the party, I'll even try to make it less awkward for you." He smiled at his friend as he narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

"Okay...I'll go. But you promise that we'll leave if I'm uncomfortable?"

"I promise, as long as you promise to actually give it a fair chance first. You have to make an effort at least."

"Deal."

They shook on it and moved to the living room where Naruto forced the Uchiha to watch an old kung fu movie. Sasuke sat with his arms crossed and his mouth cemented into a frown as the blond quoted almost every line and threw choreographed kicks and punches.

A few hours later Sasuke found himself following Naruto into a loud and crowded house. He stared through bored eyes at his former classmates bumping and grinding to some trendy pop music he didn't recognize. The majority of them held red plastic cups in their hands and their cheeks were stained pink.

 _Well at least there's alcohol._

"Naruto!" Kiba ran to the blond, Akamaru following closely behind, and bumped his fist. "What's up, bro?" He wreaked of vodka and his words were slurred.

"Seriously? You're already drunk? Where's mine, ya bastard?" He punched him playfully in the shoulder and the large excited dog barked at him.

"In the kitchen, duuuude! Shino got the hook up! We got everything!" He laughed and gestured towards the next room, spilling some of the alcohol on his gray button-up.

"Nice!" He grinned devilishly and turned to the Uchiha. "Let's get turnt!"

"Never say that again. Now I really need a drink." He face-palmed and followed the blond into the kitchen.

Mix drinks in hand, they made their way back to the crowded living room where they were greeted by a group of tipsy girls. Sasuke rolled his eyes as a couple of them grabbed onto his arms and stared at him shamelessly.

"Sasuke! It's been awhile! I never see you around anymore!" Sakura pouted and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Where have you been hiding that handsome face of yours, huh?" Ino flipped her hair and winked at him.

"I have just officially inherited my father's major corporation. I obviously have my hands full. I'm 24 years old, I have an endless list of responsiblities to occupy my time. The fact that I'm even here tonight is soley because of _this_ idiot." He nodded towards the blond who was playing with some girls hair and blushing as she poked his abs and squealed.

"Wow, Sasuke, you're soooo amazing! So successful and important at such a young age! You're the coolest!" Sakura gushed as she stared up at his unamused face.

"Well, it's not like there was any other Uchiha to take over my family's company. All of this just got dumped on me." He glared back at her as she awkwardly shifted and looked away.

"Oh, right." She bit her bottom lip. "Sorry."

"Billboard brow! You idiot!" Ino stuck her tongue out at the pink haired girl and shook her head.

"Jeeze, Sasuke, way to harsh the mellow! Come on, let's go dance with these babes!" Naruto grinned widely as the girls attached to him nodded and giggled excitedly.

"No. I don't dance." He glared at the blond who shrugged and pulled the girls onto the make-shift dance floor. "So, are you two going to let go of my arms or...?"

"Oh, sorry, Sasuke..." Sakura blushed as the two of them stepped away from the aggitated Uchiha. "Come on, Ino, let's go find Temari. She doesn't come out here that often...later, Sasuke."

Sasuke stood awkwardly leaning against a wall, sipping his Jaeger Bomb. His gaze was fixed on the blond as two girls grinded against him as he held one's hips. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and squeezed his cup.

 _Fucking whores._

Naruto grabbed one of the girls' hands and twirled her around, laughing, and pulled her in against his chest. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. She blushed furiously and grabbed the back of his head and pressed her lips against his. Next came the tongue action.

 _That slutty fucking bitch!_

He chugged the rest of his drink and tossed the cup in the trash. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he shoved through the crowd of people and made his way outside, slamming the door behind him. He sat on the front steps and rested a cheek in his hand.

 _I knew this was a bad idea. Why doesn't he ever listen to me?_

Within seconds the door flung open behind him and Naruto plopped down beside him.

"You can't give up already, bastard. Remember our deal?" He poked the Uchiha's shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

"Fuck that stupid deal. This party is lame. The music is crappy, the girls are slutty, and there isn't a single person here I care to talk to."

"But you didn't even try! You-"

"Naruto! When are you going to get it? I don't have the same pathetic need to fill a void with one-sided frienships as you do! I don't attach myself to every person that looks in my general direction. I don't need worthless friendships to make me feel valuable. You're fucking pathetic. Do you really think any of these people really give a shit about you? They just can't get rid of your clingy ass."

Naruto's face turned red as he stood abrubtly, fists clenched and shaking. "Get over yourself, Sasuke! You arrogant bastard! These people are my friends and just because no-one likes your crappy personality that doesn't give you the right to trash talk the people who can actually make friends! I'm not filling a void, either! I just like building bonds with people because I like to be happy, I like to be surrounded by people who care. You're fine with having no-one because you only care about yourself!"

Sasuke stood now and grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt. "Fuck you! People are trash, I don't need them! I don't need anyone, not even you." His screamed in the blond's face and shoved him backwards.

"Don't need me, huh? You're so fucking attached to me and you can't even admit it because of your stupid fucking pride! You look down on everyone and for what reason? Because you're better than us? Because you're Sasuke Uchiha the smartest, coolest man alive? Get over yourself!"

"Moron!" His fist met the blond's jaw, sending him to the ground. "If I'm attached to you, than you're no better! You need me just as badly as I need you!"

"I thought you didn't need anyone?" He got back to his feet and grabbed Sasuke shirt. "Fuck you, Sasuke!" He shoved him, the Uchiha stumbling backwards before charging forward and tackling the blond to the ground.

His fist crashed into the side of Naruto's face. The blond retaliated by shoving his feet into the Uchiha's chest, kicking him off and jumping on top of him, straddling him and throwing his fists into his face. Sasuke shoved his hands against the blond's shoulders and pushed him off before kicking him in the stomach.

As Sasuke raised his fist the door opened again, this time Kiba emerged.

"Woah, what the hell guys? You're really going to do this here?" He seemed to have sobered up some at the sudden voilence occuring on his front lawn. Although, the surprise factor had died years ago. Anyone who knew these two were familiar with these violent outbursts.

"Stay out of it, you dumb mutt!" Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth.

Naruto stood and glared down at the Uchiha. "Go home, Sasuke. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of dealing with you! You're fucking wearing me out! I'm done. I'm done with your bullshit. Just go." He turned towards Kiba and bowed his head. "I'm sorry about this, dude. I didn't mean for it to get this out of hand. I hope we didn't freak anyone out."

"Nah, dude. I just saw you guys through the window, I don't think anyone else noticed. The music was loud enough to cover it up. I kinda figured somethin' like this would happen when you said you were bringin' _him."_ He nodded towards the fuming Uchiha.

"Naruto! Don't ignore me!-"

"GO HOME." Naruto's face had turned bright red. He turned away and followed Kiba into the house and slammed the door behind him.

Seconds later, Sasuke peeled out of the drive-way. His jet black lambo disappearing in the night.

* * *

"I was only trying to help you out. I just wanted you to make more friends. You say you're content without them...but you're clearly not." Naruto looked around the living room, staring sadly at the empty alcohol containers and fixed his gaze on the butcher knife. "Maybe I'm going about it the wrong way. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong...I just don't know how to help you I guess. I'm sorry."

"I told you already. I don't need any help. I get stressed from my job, that's totally normal. Plenty of people go through the same thing. I've always been an introvert, it's a part of who I am. You need to stop trying to change that and learn to accept it." He crossed his arms and glared at the blond.

"How can you be totally okay with...oh, you know what? Never mind. I'm tired of this argument. I already know where this is going- nowhere." He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, I just came here to make up. Are we cool?"

"Yeah."

"Can I borrow the viper? Chouji gave me a ride here in his truck but I'm pretty sure he's drunk by now and he was the last sober person left at the party so..." He hated asking Sasuke to borrow his vehicles. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and avoided eye contact.

"Wha? No way! You were drinking at the party too, dobe! No way I'm letting you drive one of my cars." It was hard for him to sound authoritive when alcohol was messing with his pronunciation.

"Oh, come on, bastard! I've barely got a buzz goin'! I don't have money for a cab and it's too far to walk!" He stuck his lower lip out and widened his eyes. Pouting usually did the trick. Because, nothing was more annoying to Sasuke Uchiha than Naruto's unrelenting pouting and he'd do anything to shut him the hell up and stop making that damn face.

However, it didn't always work on the intoxicated version of Sasuke. Drunk Sasuke was a bit harder to deal with. "Nope. You're not taking any of my cars. You had that 99 Bananas stuff and every time you drink it, you're even more of a dobe than usual and I will not have a super-dobe driving my car. You can sleep on the couch. I'll even give you a blanket and pillow if you don't argue with me."

"Oh come on, Sasuke! You know I'm extra careful with your cars! I haven't wrecked one yet, have I?" He pleaded with the raven-haired man desperately and frowned when the Uchiha started laughing. Sasuke was laughing, that couldn't be a good sign.

"Ah-ha! Yet! See? That means it's bound to happen. You drive like a lunatic and with banana flavored vodka in your system, tonight very well could be the night."

"Stupid jerk..."

"Ya know, with as often as you complain about my house being too cold, I thought you would have wanted that blanket. Guess not." He smirked at the fuming blond.

"Seriously? OH COME ON!" Naruto threw his arms up for dramatic affect and his voice rose an octive. "I hate it when you're drunk, you act so weird! And somehow you get even meaner!"

"Tch. I'll make you a deal. I'll give you the blanket and pillow if we can play our drinking game."

"What?! No! Sasuke, we both know that ends in the worst hangover in alcohol history and we always end up doing the stupidest things and breaking at least two glass objects and not to mention you're already drunk! You're gonna get alcohol poisening!" His massaged his temples and squeezed his eyes shut. He was not in the mood for drunk Sasuke.

"Oh, come on, Nardo! I'm trying to have some of that fun you're always talking about. Let's play the game." Now, Sasuke's pouty face could break through any defense. It was indestructable. Well, as long as it was Naruto on the recieving end.

"Oh no. Ohhh no! Saucy's back. Alert the media, Uchiha Sasuke isn't being a bitter emo boy!" 'Saucy' was the Uchiha's alter ego. He only showed up at stage three intoxication. And he was rare. Very rare.

"Shhh." Sasuke pushed a finger to the blonde's lips and narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell anyone, dobe. They can't know about my fun side. They'll start demanding it."

Naruto burst into laughter. "Damn it, Saucy. How can I pass up an opportunity to actually do something fun with you for a change? Go get the DDR mats." If there was one thing Naruto refused to do, it was reject an offer to have fun. Especially if the offer came from Sasuke. And if Naruto were to be honest with himself, he missed playing their drinking game.

Their drinking game involved Dance Dance Revolution, a large bottle of anything that was 60 proof or higher, and two shot glasses. The rules were simple, at the end of each round, the loser took a shot. The results were usually the same. Sasuke would start out strong while Naruto tripped over his own feet but the more alcohol the blond consumed the better he got, and the more the Uchiha consumed, the worse he got.

 _Hehe, Saucy's already drunk! It's my time to shine!_

Naruto grinned to himself as Sasuke set up the game, fumbling with the mats and trying several times to connect the wires. His pale cheeks were stained pink and his usual gracefulness was nowhere to be found.

 _Yes, I'm definitely going to win this time!_

And win he did.

After an hour of Sasuke falling on his ass and Naruto pointing and laughing at his failures, both men collapsed on the couch. Naruto flipped through the channels and stopped once he found a classic samurai movie he knew the Uchiha was very fond of. All the while, Sasuke slurred something about 'winning next time' and how the game was 'completely unfair'.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up bastard. Out of pity I'll suffer through this crappy old movie for you." He lightly punched him in the arm and tossed the remote to the side.

"It's been a while since we've played Drunk Dance Revolution, hasn't it?"

"Drunk Dance Revolution? Ha! I'll have to remember that one. And yeah it has been a while I guess. At least a year or two. Now-a-days, anything involving you and alcohol hasn't been much fun." He frowned at his lap as he listened to the Uchiha fidget uncomfortably beside him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." His voice was a whisper and his eyes were narrowed at the ceiling.

"Oh man, Sasuke, don't get all emotional on me now! Way to harsh the mellow." He laughed awkwardly and nudged him.

"No, I mean it. I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry." Naruto could have sworn he heard his voice crack. "I never say those words to you, or to anyone, but I am. You were right earlier...I put you through too much and I know I'm kinda hard to deal with sometimes...or all the time...I don't know! I can't really think straight but I was going somewhere with this!" He paused for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose in deep contemplation. "Oh yeah! I'm sorry."

"Uh...it's okay? I mean, I'm used to it. I mastered the art of dealin' with a crazy Uchiha looooong ago. It's no biggie, so don't sweat it." He smiled brightly at Sasuke who only frowned in return. _Oh no, he's going to talk about his feelings...this is gonna get messy. Damn you, Drunk Dance Revolution!_

"But it's not okay, Naruto! I'm literally, like, the worst friend ever. I'm a mess..no I'm a fucking train wreck and I drag you down with me every chance I get. You're my best friend and I just treat you like crap. You know I don't like getting close to people so the fact that I'm so close to you really terrifies me so I pretend like I want to push you away but I think that if you ever did go away, I'd kill myself. I really would." He stared desperately at the blond, a pained look in his eyes.

"Sasuke..." Naruto stared back in shock. He wasn't expecting something so intimate. This night was feeling a lot like a rollercoaster ride. "I..." He paused as the Uchiha's eyes blinked shut and his head dropped. "Hey, bastard...wake up..." He nudged his shoulder lightly, causing his head to fall on his shoulder. He blushed and poked his sleeping face. "Sasuke, hey..."

"Na..ru..to..." He mumbled quietly as he burried his face in the blond's shirt.

"Uh...yeah?" he raised a curious eyebrow at the exhaused Uchiha and shifted awkwardly.

"You smell nice." He shifted his body, now completely leaning against the panicking blond. Seconds later, his breathing became quiet and steady.

"Uh...uh...Sasuke?" He blushed furiously, his cheeks burning like fire. "Sasuke? Hey!" He nudged him lightly again and poked his cheek.

"Hn." The Uchiha wrapped his arm around the blond and squeezed. He quickly drifted back into slumberland.

"Oh, what the hell!" Naruto stared down at the sleeping man and entertained the thought of pushing him off. It was when he noticed the look on his face that he had changed his mind. Every bit of anger, annoyance, bitterness, and pain had been washed away. Naruto had never seen him look so peaceful in his life. In fact, he almost looked _happy._ He smiled down at him and shifted himself until he was comfortable.

 _This isn't that weird. I mean, he's my best friend, how can I deny him a good night's sleep? He's just drunk and feeling affectionate for once in his life. It's not that weird...it's not..._

His thoughts faded as his eyes blinked shut. The world disappeared around him as he left the reality of Sasuke's living room and entered the dream realm.

 **A/N: Thank you for reading! This is my first AU and I'm planning to have a little fun with it. ;) Let me know what you think, reviews are always appreciated! Sorry for the language, I'm a little bit vulgar at times. Shame on me.**


	2. Naruto's Date

**A/N: Soooo. Wow, hey, it's been a while. Yeah, kinda took for freakin' ever to update this. Whoops. Anywho, I revised the first chapter a little bit because I wasn't really happy with how I wrote it the first time it seemed a little unorganized but it didn't effect the actual story any so you don't need to re-read it or anything. Just thought I'd put that out there in case anyone noticed. This chapter kind of finishes up the beginning stages of the story and it'll pick up more next chapter. Hopefully it won't take me as long to update. :sweatdrop:**

 **DISCLAIMER: Any musical groups, lyrics, or brand names of anything I mentioned are not mine and credit goes to the artists and companes responsible for them. Also, of course, the characters do not belong to me either. Masashi Kishimoto has the rights to them.**

* * *

The room was bright with the Sun's morning rays. Sasuke blinked slowly into consciousness, noticing with mild annoyance that his face was throbbing with pain and there was a feeling of heaviness and slight wetness on his hip. His eyes flew open in shock as he heard the faint snoring coming from the heavy spot on his hip. His sight zeroed in on the denim fabric his cheek was pressed against and felt horror creep into him as he realized who's lap he had spend the night on.

He sat up abruptly, knocking Naruto's head from his hip. The blond was shocked into awareness and they sat staring at each other, eyes widened. Sasuke's hand flew up to his mouth in disgust as he realized the wet feeling was caused by the blond's drooling.

"Wh-what happened last night? Why were we-?" Sasuke's voice was muffled by the hand he refused to remove.

"You don't remember anything do you?" Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly as the Uchiha wracked his brain for memories that would not surface. He mentally panicked as he feared the worst. "You look like you're gonna be sick. I'm not surprised, I bet you have a major hangover." He laughed uncomfortably as Sasuke glared at him.

"Answer the question. What happened? We didn't...um..." Sasuke removed the hand from his mouth to bury his face in his palms and rub the flesh in frustration. He inwardly cursed his foggy memory.

"Haha, well, we went to Kiba's engagement party, faught, you went home, got totally wasted and I came over to check on you. The living room was trashed and there was a butcher knife stuck in the floor, we faught again, played some DDR, and then I put on a movie and you fell asleep on me. I guess you're the snuggly type when you're drunk." The blond shrugged and stood from the couch, walking towards the kitchen. "I tried movin' you off of me but you wouldn't really let me and you were, like, dead alseep so I just left you alone. I guess I ended up fallin' over on you. Not a big deal and I won't tell anyone so don't worry about that." He opened the cubbard and began rummaging through it with a deep frown in place.

"So..that's all that happened?" A wave of relief washed over him and he joined the blond in the kitchen. "What are you looking for?"

"A decent breakfast. Where the hell is the Captain Crunch? All you have is Cheeries and plain oatmeal. What kind of deprived life are you livin'?" He threw his arms up in frustration and moved to the refridgerator, where he moved aside countless items before giving up on his search for sugary goodness.

"Just because I don't live off of junk food like you do, does not mean that I live a 'deprived life'. You're twenty-four years old you need to start taking better care of your body." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and sat at his bar.

"Yeah, says the borderline alchoholic." Naruto rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, ignoring the menacing glare Sasuke threw at him. "What about the instant ramen I keep here for food emergencies? Do I have any left?" The blond stared judgingly at the raven who was eating what he consisidered to be an abomination of a breakfast.

"You're disgusting. But, if you have any left they'd be in the bottom cubbard." He listened to the knocking and clinging, courtesy of the blond, as he rested his head against a palm and stirred his Cherrios. He watched the soggy circles swirl around the pool of milk, in a trance like state. He had come so close to exposing his feelings, feelings he had been working so hard to lock away for years. Lucky for him, the blond is completely oblivious to those sorts of things.

"Yes! I found one!" Naruto snickered as he put a kettle on the stove and leaned against the counter, impatiently waiting for that glorious whistle. He hummed a catchy tune as he drummed his thighs with a pair of chopsticks.

Sasuke peeled his eyes away from the swirling cereal and frowned at the sunshiny man in front of him. How was he so cheery? Nobody could possibly be that happy with a hangover. "Oi, loser, how do you have so much energy? Don't you have a headache or something?" He shoved the cereal bowl away from himself, unable to stomach any food at the moment.

"Huh? Why would I have a heachache?" The blond raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in confusion.

"The same reason I do. You aren't hungover?" He stood from the bar and disposed of his nausiating breakfast.

"Nope. I barely drank last night. One of us had to be sober." Naruto jumped as the kettle screamed at him. He quickly removed it and poured it's contents into the ramen cup, setting the pair of chopsticks on top.

Sasuke scowled and inwardly cursed himself. _Great_. He felt uncomfortable knowing that he had, no doubt, behaved like a drooling idiot while Naruto, of all people, had been the responsible one. Their roles were not switched often, but when they were, it really hurt Sasuke's pride.

"So." Sasuke cleared his throat. "What are your plans for the day?" He leaned casually against the counter, beside Naruto, and crossed his arms.

"Well..." Naruto hesitated, averting his eyes and fixing them on the kitchen tiles. "Kiba set me up on another stupid blind date. I guess it's some chick he knew from college. I've been wonderin' if I should just call it off. Those dates never go well, but he's so damn determined to get me a girlfriend. I mean, I want one...I don't know it's complicated."

"Nervous? That's unlike you. You're usually obnoxiously excited for these sorts of things."

"Oh come on, Sasuke. You know how it is! As soon as they see me, they freak out and get all awkward." Naruto touched his cheek and brushed his hands over the scars that raised above the surface in three jagged lines.

"Those girls at last night's party didn't seem to mind them."

"Well first of all, they were totally wasted. Second of all, they met me through Kiba in college so they already got used to the scars forever ago." He fidgeted nervously with the bottom of his tee-shirt.

"So date one of them. They clearly liked you." He said bitterly.

"Again, Sasuke, they were drunk. Besides that, they're not from around here. I don't do long distance."

Sasuke sighed and moved away from the counter. He stood in front of Naruto and grabbed his shoulders. "Go on the date, repress your dorky sense of humor as much as possible, be polite, and if she's even worth your time she'll stick around despite the scars. If she's that shallow that she can't get past them, then she's not worth dating anyway." He slapped Naruto lightly on the cheek before turning away.

"Easy for you to say." Naruto mumbled. "Every girl on the planet thinks you're gorgeous. You'd have no problem getting a girlfriend if you actually wanted one."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks and turned to face the blond. "Physical scars are much easier to get past than...you know what? Nevermind. Just, looks aren't everything. I'm going to go take a shower. When do you need me to take you home?"

"Doesn't matter. Whenever you're ready."

"Hn."

Sasuke disappeared down the hall and Naruto grabbed his ramen cup. He dipped his chopsticks in and swirled the noodles around, suddenly feeling a lot less hungry. He narrowed his eyes at his breakfast as he contemplated what Sasuke had said to him. Naruto was confident about a lot of things and didn't feel nervous about much, but, dating was definitely one exception. He recalled the many blind dates Kiba had set him up on in the past. They had all ended in a similar way, the girl would take one look at his scars and become noticibly uncomfortable for the remainder of the date and he would not hear from her again. In some of the worst cases, she would excuse herself to use the restroom and not return.

Naruto sighed and began slurping up the noodles. He went against his better judgment, and decided to take Sasuke's advice. After all, Sasuke was one of the smartest people he knew. Also, being his best friend, of course he had Naruto's best interest in mind, right?

* * *

When Sasuke returned, he found Naruto sitting cross-legged on the sofa with a PS3 controller in his hands.

" _Round Two... Fight!"_

"Mortal Combat, eh?" Sasuke sat on the armrest, towel drying the dripping wet, chaotic mess that was his hair.

"Hells yeah! Wanna play?" Naruto flashed his big goofy grin. "I'm totally down for kickin' your ass today."

"As if you could." Sasuke smirked and set aside his towel. "I need to go see Kakashi, actually. There's some things I need to discuss with him. You don't mind me taking you home now, do you? You could hang out here if you want but if you have that date tonight, it may be safer to get you home now. I'm not entirely sure when I'll be back."

"Nah, it's cool. I feel kinda nasty anyway, I need a shower and junk." He finished his round and shut the system down. "Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"About what you said earlier..."

"Yeah, I know." Sasuke offered him a crooked smile before stepping away from the couch and grabbing his keys from the coffee table. "Let's get you home, dobe. I don't want you stinking up my house anymore."

"Asshole."

Naruto tossed the controller aside and followed Sasuke out. After some annoying, and rather childish pleading, Sasuke agreed to take the Viper. Naruto pumped his fist in the air and decided to push his luck a little further.

"Can I drive? Don't give me that look! Come on! This car is so cool and you'll be right next to me to make sure I don't go crazy! Please!" He tugged Sasuke's sleeve repeatedly until he gave in.

"Fine. Just make sure you drive the speed limit for once in your damned life." He rolled his eyes as he settled into the passenger's side.

Naruto's grin was spread from ear to ear as took his place at the wheel. The car was the lastest model and still smelled as though it had just been driven off the lot. It was a deep purple color with a navy blue tint in the sunlight. It came equipped with every modern gadget a car could possibly have and Naruto was eager to take full advantage of his position as driver.

As he turned the key in the ignition and listened to the engine purr to life, he made a face that was dangerously close to what a man may look life after a good "release". Sasuke smirked at the giddy blond as he backed out of the garage, his childish excitement amusing him. They were half-way down the street when Naruto began digging in his pocket, which earned him a threatening look from the Uchiha. He pulled out an out-dated i-Pod and hooked it up to the stereo.

"Since you'll probably freak out if I take my eyes off the road, scroll through my playlists and find the one called 'Tasty Jams' and put it on."

"Tasty Jams, huh?" Sasuke snorted as he complied with Naruto's request. He found the playlist located between 'Quality Jams' and 'Sick Beats'. He rolled his eyes as the music started playing. He scrolled through the songs, finding it was a mix of Ninja Sex Party, Barenaked Ladies, Butthole Surfers, Bloodhound Gang, and Cage the Elephant. "Interesting choice of musical groups."

"Hey, don't judge. You listen to some pretty weird shit too." He laughed and began tapping his hands against the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

"I don't see how this music could be classified as 'tasty' but then again, it is _you._ " Sasuke smirked and leaned his head against the back of the seat, secretly enjoying the song.

"And don't pretend you don't like this song! We used to sing along to this in college all the time!"

 _"Some will die in hot pursuit in fiery auto crashes_  
 _Some will die in hot pursuit while sifting through my ashes_  
 _Some will fall in love with life and drink it from a fountain_  
 _That is pouring like an avalanche comin' down the mountain"_

As the chorus began, neither of them could resist the urge to sing along. Naruto was especially enthusiastic, while Sasuke quietly sang to himself. Although, the raven's participation did not go unnoticed even through the obnoxiousness of Naruto's vocal debut.

"I don't mind the Sun sometimes, the images it shows. I can taste you on my lips, and smell you in my clothes. Cinnamon and sugary, and softly spoken lies. You never know just how you look through other people's eyes."

"Ha! I knew it!" Naruto exclaimed, punching Sasuke in the arm. "You fuckin' love this song, ya loser!" He snickered as the raven glared at him with murderous intent.

Naruto ignored him and continued singing along. He wasn't casual about it either, as it seemed he thought he were performing for a crowd of deaf elderly folk. Sasuke stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by in a blur. He listened to Naruto sing, and although he thought he was terrible, he enjoyed it anyway. He made a mental note to have Naruto try singing punk since his voice was so raspy and husky sounding.

"I'm glad you're going to visit Kakashi." Naruto turned the music down as he spoke. Sasuke continued looking out the window. "I mean the guy did take you in after...the incident. And he officially adopted you when you were eleven. The least you could do is give the guy a little attention. 'Specially since he's kind enough to deal with all of your shit and love you anyway."

"What are you talking about? I pay him plenty attention." He turned his head to glare at the blond.

"Dude. The other night when I borrowed your phone, I noticed you had, like, six missed calls from him. What's your deal? Kakashi's cool and he's always been there for you." He glanced back at Sasuke, returning his glare.

"It's complicated. It's not that I don't like him or anything like that. Besides, I'm visiting him today so give me a break. I'm trying to be a good adopted son in my own way. Not all of us are overly attatched and affectionate like you are."

"I just think if someone cares about you enough to accept you as their own son, you should at least show a little appreciation. Jeez. I call Iruka almost every day. I'm glad you're visiting him though. I think he gets lonely."

"Well, that's not my fault. If he's lonely he should start dating. It may help if he'd take off that damn mask." Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. He opened his weather app and skimmed through the weekly forcast.

"That's not fair, Sasuke. If I could wear a mask without you ripping it off my face every time you got the chance, I would. You know it's a psychological thing or whatever. Don't be so judgey." He nudged the raven's arm.

"Hn. I suppose it's really none of my concern. It's supposed to storm tonight, by the way. Dress accordingly. And bring an umbrella for your date in case she's unaware of the expected rain." He locked his phone and sat it on his lap, turning his head back toward the window.

"Thanks for the tip. Ya know, for someone so closed off and uninterested in the magical world of dating, you sure are considerate. Hell, I've been on countless dates and I think you'd still show me up. Even with your horrible social skills."

"Hn."

The passing houses soon transitioned into a blur of forestry, signaling the closeness of Naruto's apartment complex. His housing unit was hidden in a thick patch of woods, the entrance hardly even noticeable, unless you knew it was there. Although, the sight of so many trees was rather rare considering they lived 20 minutes outside the city.

Naruto pulled into the lot and parked on the far end, which was closest to his entrance. With a huff of disappointment at having arrived (in his opinion) much too soon, he turned the key and shut off the car. He always hated parting from the driver's seat of one of Sasuke's cars. It was rare that Sasuke let him drive. But, even Naruto couldn't quite blame him, considering it was probably due to the fact that Naruto's car was in the shop just about every other week. That could easily be what made Sasuke so nervous about trusting him.

"When is Gamakichi supposed to get out of the shop? Have you heard anything back from the mechanic yet?" Sasuke straightened his posture and unclicked his seatbelt.

"Well last I heard it was a problem with the motor so the guy said it could be a while. I was plannin' on callin' today actually." Naruto sighed dramatically and slumped over. "Man, this car is breakin' me! I swear all of my money goes towards fixin' that stupid thing!" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"If it's so much trouble why don't you just get a new car? It will most likely save you more money in the long run."

"Dude, you know why I don't wanna do that. Jiraiya gave me that car for my sixteenth Birthday. I'm hopelessly attached."

"Sentimenal value isn't going to save you when your car breaks down on the highway. Precious gift or not, it's a heap of junk."

"Aw, Sasuke, you worryin' about me?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows at the raven who flicked his forehead in retalliation. "Ow! What the hell?"

"Don't be an idiot. I'm just saying I think it's stupid that you keep that thing. So does this mean you're going to beg for one of my cars tonight for your date?"

"Nah. I'm just gonna call a cab. It's gonna be kinda pricey but I don't want to give this poor girl the impression that I'm rich only to explain that my best friend actually is. Then she'll decide she wants you instead before I even get a chance. I mean, if the date goes well and she ever does meet you that'll happen anyway, but I'd like to get a head start on charmin' her."

"Why do you assume that every girl you date is just trying to get to me?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Because every time I get close to a girl and she meets you, it ruins any chance I had. Because after that all she does is ask questions about you and suggest we go see you every time I try to get alone time with her. Apparently you're super fuckin' hot."

"Well I'm sorry for the inconvience. So are you going to get the hell out of my car or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'!" He ran his hands along the steering wheel one last time before getting out.

Sasuke met him in front of the car and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck, dobe, don't fuck it up. I'd tell you to let me know how it goes, but I'm sure you already planned on calling me at an ungodly hour to unload a whole novel of experiences on me"

"Ah, you know me so well. Have fun with Kakashi."

"Hn."

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he pulled into Kakashi's drive-way. Partly because he was relieved that the hour and a half drive was over with and part because he was sort of dreading the converstation he was about to have. He removed the pair of sunglasses he had on and slid them onto the visor. He stepped out of the car and reluctantly made his way to the front door.

He knocked three times and walked in. "Kakashi. I'm here. Where are you?" He listened to faint rustling coming from the kitchen and an excited "oh!" and decided to head that way.

"Long time, no see, Sasuke!" His eyes expressed cheerfulness as he lazily made his way over to the raven, pulling him in a tight hug. He released him when he heard the exaggerated sigh. "You know, I tried calling you the other day. Why didn't you get a hold of me? What if it had been important?"

"Well it wasn't, was it?"

"That's not the point. I really only wanted to catch up because it had been awhile since I'd heard from you. But I'll stop nagging, you're here now so I'll just shut up about it. Hungry? I'm making lunch."

"I could eat, I suppose."

"So what exactly is it that you wanted to discuss? You sounded a little stressed on the phone earlier."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and averted his eyes. "I almost blew my cover last night. Apparently the intoxicated version of myself decided it was okay to cuddle Naruto. We slept the entire night like that because he said he couldn't get me to move."

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "Oh? And how did that go this morning?"

Sasuke smirked and took a seat at the kitchen table. "Well, you know Naruto. That blond idiot just wrote it off as me being the cuddly type when drunk. He didn't think anything of it. I can read him better than he can read himself, he honestly didn't suspect a thing."

"Hm. Well, don't you think it's about time you told him your gay?" Kakashi checked whatever he had in the oven and took a seat at the other end of the table.

"I thought he'd be suspicious since I express a disinterest in dating girls. But, again, you know Naruto...idiot assumes that means I don't want to date in general. And as for whether or not I should just tell him, that's kind of why I'm here."

"Well, if it's my advice you're after, I think you should tell him. He's been your best friend for practically your entire life, Sasuke. I'm honestly surprised you haven't told him by now."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair again, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "What if he's uncomfortable around me after learning about my sexuality?"

"You said yourself, you know Naruto better than he knows himself. Do you really think he'll care if you're gay? He's not the type to judge others for something like that. Besides, I doubt he'll give up your friendship that easily."

Sasuke was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was considerably softer. "I know Naruto doesn't care about that sort of thing. I suppose if I'm being honest with myself, I'm more afraid that I'll be the one to mess things up. That seems to be my area of expertise."

Kakashi looked thoughful, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "This is about more than you just being gay isn't it?"

Sasuke nodded.

"You've finally realized you have feelings for Naruto, haven't you?"

Sasuke hesitated. Another nod.

"Hm. I see your dilema then."

"Well, what should I do? It's not getting any easier...the longer I keep this secret the harder it is to control myself around him. I don't think he's interested in men though, he's only ever expressed an interest in woman. But, even if he were a closeted bisexual, there's no gaurantee he'd return my... _feelings._ "

Kakashi stared at him, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. The longer the silence lasted, the stronger Sasuke's impatience grew.

"Damn it, Kakashi, help me! What do I do?"

"I wish I could make this easy for you. As much as I'd like to tell you exactly what you should do, I can't. This is tough, Sasuke. Although, you don't think he likes men, well, he doesn't think you do either...so at least you know that isn't something that you can just assume about someone."

"But I also don't show any interest in women. He does."

"You said yourself, he could be bisexual. Maybe he's just as afraid to tell you as you are of telling him"

"Don't fill me with false hope, Kakashi." He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "But for arguement's sake, let's say he is bisexual. What if he still doesn't return my feelings?"

Another round of tension building silence. "What if you hold off on confessing your feelings? Perhaps you could just tell him you're gay and see what his reaction is. We've already established that he isn't the type to end a freindship over that."

"How did I even come to like that idiot? This is a mess. I can't believe I put myself in this situation." He scowled at nothing in particular. "And for some stupid reason, I can't stand the thought of losing his friendship or being rejected. I have this feeling that I'm about to ruin everything."

"Just see where things lead. I honestly don't believe Naruto will abandon you. I've seen you two get through the toughest of situations and bounce back from the worst fights. He will accept you, Sasuke, and even if he doesn't return your feelings, he wouldn't do anything to lose your friendship. Have a little faith in him."

Kakashi's eyes held a smile as he rose from his seat and sauntered over to the oven, pulling out a large, steaming dish. He set the dish on the kitchen table and pulled two bottles of water from the refridgerater. He offered one to Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto is a good guy, Sasuke. He cares about you more than you realize. Don't stress over it too much. Now eat up, you're looking pale. It's comfort food. The way you sounded on the phone, I figured you could use it." He ruffled the Uchiha's hair and returned to his seat. Sasuke was mostly silent for the remainder of his visit. After all, he had a lot on his mind. A decision had to be made.

* * *

An assortment of shirts and pants flew threw the air as Naruto rummaged through his dresser drawers. He paused as he picked up a blood orange button down shirt, and held it against his chest. He studdied his reflection in the mirror before shaking his head and chucking it behind him to join the reject pile.

"Aghh! It's no use!" He threw his arms up and collapsed onto his bed, scowling at the ceiling. He rolled over and stared at the picture frame on his bedside table. It held the image of his parents, a man who greatly resembled Naruto and a woman with a bright smile and long red hair. "Sorry pops, sorry ma. Your kid didn't really turn out so great. Guess maybe it's a good thing you're not around 'cause then you'd have to live with the disappointment of never havin' any grandkids."

He stood from the bed and pulled his phone off of it's charger. With a sigh, he scrolled through his contacts and selected Sakura's name. He hit the call button and leaned against the door frame.

 _"Hey!"_

"Hey, Sakura. Would you mind helping me out with somethin'?"

 _"Of course not. What do you need?"_

"I have a date tonight and-"

 _"Say no more! I'll be there in ten minutes!"_

Naruto laughed to himself as the call abruptly ended. He shoved the phone into his pocket, feeling more at ease. If anyone could help him look nice it would be Sakura. After all, she is a girl herself, so she would obviously know what one would want in a man.

Since he had decided to leave everything in Sakura's hands after coming to the conclusion that he was hopeless without her, he picked up his PSP and flopped down onto his bed again. He was about to win a battle when his pocket vibrated, making him jump. He cursed as the enemy got in a fatal blow and he lost the match.

Of course, it had been Sasuke to interrupt his fun. He slid the unlock button and selected the text message.

 _Hey, dumbass, good luck with your date tonight. Remember what I told you about the rain and keeping your stupid jokes to yourself. Also, you left your crappy iPod in my car. Please get it out of my sight asap._

He smiled to himself and immediately responded.

 _Thanks bastard. You're such a sweet and thoughtful friend, ya know? Man you are such a soft and gentle creature. Such a good guy. Wow._

There was something about how Sasuke had his own way of showing he cared that always amused Naruto. Of course, the Uchiha could never pay a compliment or show concern for anyone without throwing an insult or two in there. It was as if he were making sure that they knew he was still the 'cool' one.

 _Whatever, loser. Just come get your ancient iPod after work tomorrow._

Naruto smirked and threw the phone aside as he heard the door to his apartment fly open. It didn't alarm him in the slightest, his friends were always welcome and he held a very strict open door policy. His closest friends even had a key. He sprung from his bed and rushed down the hall, colliding with Sakura who was already making her way towards his room.

"Oof!" Sakura fell onto her ass, giggling as Naruto helped her up.

"Sorry about that." He grinned sheepishly before leading her back into his bedroom. "So, mind working your girl magic and finding me something to wear?" He gestured toward the heap of dingy clothes on the floor.

"Oh no...are you serious?" She frowned and placed a hand on her hip. "Do you have anything that isn't orange? Or at least not from college or high school? I mean, look at this! Don't you ever buy yourself new clothes?" She rubbed her temples and began sifting through the pile.

"Well, I work in a factory and I live alone so I gotta pay all the bills myself. And all of my extra cash goes towards fixing Gamakichi." He scratched the side of his nose as he watched Sakura's frustration grow with each shirt she threw aside. "C'mon! There's gotta be somthin' in there!"

"No. We're going with plan B." She shook her head at the blond and pulled out her cellphone. She stood with a hand on her hip and foot tapping rythmically against the hardwood floor. "Sasuke? Hey, listen, you need to get over to Naruto's immediately. Bring an outfit suitable for a date." She paused and then a vein twitched in her forehead. "What the hell do you think?! Of course he doesn't have anything of his own! Get over here now!" She ended the call before an argument could be made and grabbed Naruto's hand, leading him out of the room and into his bathroom.

"Are you really making Sasuke bring me an outfit? That's so weird! And what are we doing in my bathroom? Are you trying to get fresh with me? You want some sexy shower time?" He wiggled his eyebrows at his friend, who responded with a powerful punch to the arm. "Owww! Sakura!" He whined as he rubbed the fresh bruise.

"Listen, your wardrobe is pathetic and Sasuke dresses nicely so I know we can count on him to have something for you. And I've brought you in here because I bought something that can help you." She set her purse on the bathroom counter and began rummaging through it. She pulled out a small beige colored bottle and smiled brightly while waving it in Naruto's confused face.

"Uh...what's that? And how is it supposed to help me?" He scratched the back of his head as he studdied the foreign object.

"This is called foundation. It's make-up. Don't give me that look! It's to cover up your scars." She dived into her purse again, pulling out a plastic baggie of various cosmetics and application products.

"So, what you're saying is, you want to do my make-up? So that I, a man, can go on a date with a woman?"

"I know it sounds a little strange, but, it's only to cover the scars. That's it. It's not like I'm dolling you up with mascara and eye-shadow too." She kicked the lid of the toilet seat down and gestured for Naruto to take a seat.

"Well...it's not like I'm crazy about the idea of wearin' all that girl crap but...will that stuff really cover up my scars?" He sat down, as instructed, and began fidgeting with the zipper pockets of his tan cargo pants.

"I bought the most full coverage foundation Sephora had to offer, so I imagine that it will. I hope you aren't offended by this or anything..." She smiled sadly at him and pumped the product onto her fingertip. She dotted his face with the foundation until she felt there was a sufficient amount and began blending it in with a large sponge.

"I'm not offended." Naruto spoke softly. "I'm actually kinda glad..."

"I thought you would be." She smiled and pulled out a bottle of concealer from the baggie she had placed on Naruto's lap. "The last time you went on a blind date, I remember you saying something about wearing a Luchador mask to the next one to hide your scars. Well, I just thought maybe foundation was a better option." She giggled as she put the concealer away and began blending again.

"But the Luchador mask was a _cooler_ option." Naruto pouted.

"Sit still, idiot."

* * *

Sasuke's face burned red with anger as he shoved clothes into a bag. He cursed under his breath, snatching his keys from the kitchen counter and storming out of his house. It was hard enough pretending as though he supported Naruto's date. He didn't want his friend to get hurt, that wasn't it, but he also didn't necessarily want the date to go well either.

It was one thing to express a small amount of encouragement regarding the success of Naruto's date. It was another to physically help the date go well. He felt bitter and slightly ashamed of himself for his thoughts. He cared about Naruto, so why wouldn't he want him to be happy? Why shouldn't he genuinely hope for Naruto to have a romantic relationship?

 _Because whoever this bitch is, she couldn't possibly deserve to be with Naruto._

He cringed at his thoughts. Since when did become the jealous type? He shook the thoughts away and started his car. He sighed when he spotted the blond's iPod, running a hand through his hair and biting his lower lip. "Fuck it" he thought and scrolled through the playlists until he found one entitled "Best Songs Ever!". He smirked and selected the first song, pulling out onto the road as the music began to play.

When Sasuke arrived at Naruto's apartment complex, he parked next to Sakura's Niisan Maxima and grabbed the bag of clothes from the passenger seat, slamming the door. He made his way to Naruto's door and let himself in. He immediately heard laughter coming from down the hall and followed the sound.

"Naruto, stop it!" Sakura giggled. "Don't make me pin you down!"

"Yeah but , Sakura, this feels so weird! Sorry if I'm a little squimish, I can't help it!"

 _What the hell is going on in there?!_ Sasuke's eyes darkened and he wrenched the door open. What he saw sent him into a rage.

Sakura was hovering over Naruto with a powder brush in her hand. And Naruto's scars were gone. Well, almost gone considering they raised above the surface of his skin. He glanced down to the blond's lap where he spotted the various cosmetics. His fists clenched and he felt his chest rising and falling rapidly, murder in his eyes.

"What the fuck are you doing to my friend?" He forced through his teeth, Sakura's eyes widening at his angry reaction.

"I-I helped him cover up his scars, for his date tonight. You know he's self-"

"Wipe that shit off of his face _right now."_ He thought for a moment that maybe he was over-reacting but ultimately decided it was completely justified. Because, why should Naruto have to change his appearance for someone to like him? It just wasn't right.

"Sasuke." Naruto's embarassment was evident in the pink hue that colored his cheeks, even through the foundation. "She was only trying to help. I said it was okay-"

"Well it's not o-fucking-kay. Wipe it off, _now."_

"What the hell is wrong with you? What's the big deal? I know wearin' make-up is pretty weird for a guy, but it's not like I'm gay or anything. I mean, obviously, since I'm going on a date with a chick. But you know I have a better chance at a good impression if she isn't staring at my scars the whole time!" And now, Sasuke was really furious.

"Yeah, it's not doing any harm, Sasuke. It's only-"

"Shut the fuck up, Sakura." She bit her lip, looking away and Sasuke threw the bag of clothes on the ground, yanking Naruto up by the collar. "You don't think this is going to do any harm?! Well, what happens when she decides she likes you and you continue dating? Eventually you're going to have to be honest with her because you can't hide forever! And what happens then? The scars will freak her out and she'll be pissed that you lied to her the whole time. And by then, you'll already be attached and the rejection will hurt even more than it would have if you had just been yourself from the start."

The blond gripped Sasuke's wrist and forced his hand away, shoving him against the wall. "Am I really that fuckin' hideous that you think even after she gets to know me she'll take off runnin' when she sees my scars? I know they're pretty brutal, but fuck, man! I just want the opportunity to have someone get to know me without immediately writing me off. You don't understand what this is like! I'm fucking lonely, okay? I know it sounds desperate...but, shit, I am! You could have any girl on the damn planet and you choose to be alone! Well, I don't want to be anymore." He turned away, only to be forced back around.

"You're not alone, moron, you have me!" Shit, did he really just say that? His hands trembled and he could feel his cheeks getting warm.

"You selfish asshole!" If looks could kill, Sasuke would most definitely have bit the dust just now. "What is this really about? You don't want me to start dating 'cause you think I'll ignore you or somethin'? You should know better than that!"

"That's not it." Sasuke bit out, frustrated with himself and ashamed of his behavior. But, on the bright side, Naruto was no closer to finding him out despite his slip up.

"Then what is it?" Naruto's blue eyes locked with Sasuke's obsidian, his brows pushed down in anger.

"It just doesn't feel right." He moved his gaze to the bag of cosmetics that had fallen to the floor. "You shouldn't have to cover up for this girl. If she's really worth your time, the scars won't matter. The right person will see through them right away. Have you already forgotten what I said to you this morning?"

Naruto visibly relaxed. He raked a hand through the mess of blond and sighed, a smile playing at his lips. "I'm sorry. You're right, this isn't right. If I'm gonna be serious with someone I want to know for sure that they're in it for me. Exactly the way I am. Scars and all. Besides, you make a pretty good point, would I even wanna be with the type of girl who judges mostly on looks?"

"Just now figuring it out, moron?" Sasuke smirked in victory.

"Shut up, bastard." The blond laughed and punched the raven in the arm.

"You're both insane." They had almost forgotten about Sakura. She stood next to the bathroom door, arms crossed, shaking her head. "I've never seen a weirder friendship in all of my life."

"I can't even argue with that statement." Sasuke agreed. "Now, wipe that stuff off of your face, Naruto, and put on a decent outfit." He picked up the abandoned bag of clothes from the floor and handed them to Naruto.

"'Kay." The blond nodded, setting the bag aside. He ran a wash cloth under the faucet and began wiping away the make-up, frowning as the scars reappeared.

The other two exited the room to give him a little privacy and sat awkwardly in the living room. Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, stealing glances at the Uchiha who was mindlessly scrolling through his phone.

"So what are you doing on your phone?" Sakura asked in a friendly voice.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going through my email. Since I took over my father's position I've been getting more than I can keep up with."

Good. He answered, that's a start. "Sounds stressful." She said with concern.

"Hn." He didn't bother prying his eyes away from the phone and fell silent again.

"Look, Sasuke, I'm sorry about last night. I had a little too much to drink and the way I acted was completely innapropriate." A light blush dusted her cheeks as she sat fidgeting with the loose strings on Naruto's dingy old couch.

"Whatever." He still didn't look up, just scrolling away, his face illuminated by the screen.

A vein twitched in the pink-haired girls forehead. "That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"What do you want me to say, Sakura?" Finally, he was making eye contact. Sure, he was glaring...but, hey, it's better than being ignored.

"I don't know that maybe you forgive me? That you're sorry too, for acting like a jerk to Ino and I?" She sighed heavily, falling back on the couch. "We used to be so close...you, me...Naruto...we were always together. Why does it feel like you want nothing to do with me these days? You use work as an excuse, but you always make time for Naruto. Why can't the three of us ever hang out once in a while? Or even just you and me..."

The raven set his phone aside and turned towards Sakura, his arms crossed. "Are you really asking me this question? You should know the answer. For God's sake, woman, you're a nurse at one of the most respected hospitals in the city, you should be able to figure it out." He raised an eyebrow at the stunned look on her face.

"S-Sasuke...how many times do I have to apologize? I-"

"Last night, you were intoxicated. That is a valid explanation and I'm willing to forgive you for that instance. But what about every other time we've ever been alone together? Sakura, I'm tired of repeating myself. I'm not interested. And I'm not comfortable sustaining a friendship with someone who wants more than that and makes it painfully clear. I'm done playing games."

Her jaw dropped. She tried to respond but was interupted by the bathroom door flinging open and within seconds, Naruto entered the room.

"Well, how do I look?" The blond stood awkwardly running a hand through his messy blond hair. He was now dressed in a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans and a navy blue cardigan with a light gray T-shirt beneath. "...Well?" He asked again when the other two continued to sit, silently gaping at him.

Sakura sprung up from her seat and circled him, whistling. "Damn, Naruto, you look _hot_!"

Sasuke remained seated, fighting with every ounce of his strength against the blush that threatened to color his cheeks. Naruto was in his clothes. And he looked _so good._

"Stop it, Sakura, you're getting me all hot and bothered!" He laughed and softly punched her arm. "But seriously, I look okay?"

"More than okay! You clean up nice. You need to dress like this more often!" She blushed and continued drooling over the new and improved Naruto Uzumaki.

"Nah, this isn't really my style." He scratched the back of his head as his cheeks turned cherry red. Getting compliments on his appearance was pretty rare so he wasn't sure how to respond.

"What's so bad about my style, loser?" Sasuke stood now and walked towards him, flicking the blond's forehead for his unintended insult.

"Ow! Nothing's wrong with your style! You're all professional and smart so this kind of thing suits you pretty good. But, on me, it's kind of...misleading? Gah! I don't know what I'm sayin'!"

"Hn. Well, it looks good on you. And I wouldn't mind being seen with someone who dresses nicely for once. It definitely beats your cargo pants and orange T-shirts." He snorted at the frown the blond gave him.

"Whatever, bastard." He crossed his arms and pouted, looking away. Which led his eyes to the clock across the room. "Shit! I gotta go! My cab is gonna be here any minute! Where's my wallet? How's my hair? Shit, is my phone charged?!"

Sakura giggled and grabbed the panicking blond's shoulders. "Your wallet is on your night-stand. Your hair is messy, but it looks adorable that way. And, I saw your phone connected to the charger and laying on top of your dresser. Breathe." She hugged him tightly before he mumbled a 'thank you' and raced down the hallway.

An obnoxious honking could be heard through the walls of the apartment and Naruto was back in his living room within seconds. He stood in front of the door, patting himself down and mumbling a check-list to himself. He nodded when he confirmed that he had everything he needed and reached for his keys that dangled from a hook on the wall.

"Okay, guys, wish me luck!"

* * *

Sasuke stood in front of his refridgerator, an arm extended as it held the freezer door open. He stared at it's contents, a couple frozen pizzas and five bottles of hard liquor. He bit his lip as his eyes fixed on a bottle of Jack. With a heavy sigh, he snatched the bottle up and slammed it on his kitchen counter.

"Just one drink won't hurt. I don't need to be at the office until nine..." He assured himself. With a reluctant hand, he opened a cabinet and selected a short, intricately carved glass designed for exactly what he intended on using it for.

After dropping a few ice cubes in, he filled it almost to the brim with whiskey. He put the glass to his lips and tipped his head back. Seconds later, the glass was half empty. The burning sensation in his throat and chest felt warm and familiar. His mind was at ease.

 _"I don't know where you're goin', but do you got room for one more troubled soul?"_

"Naruto?" Sasuke searched his pockets as the sound of the blond's default ringtone rang muffled through his jeans. "Hey, dobe." The other end was silent for a moment and his heart stopped.

 _"Can you come get me?"_

"I'll be there as soon as I can, text me your location." He hung up and grabbed his keys from the counter. _This can't be good._

 **A/N: That song they were listening to in the car was Pepper by Butthole Surfers and I do not own that song all rights and whatnot go to the artist. Same with Naruto's default ringtone which is Alone Together by Fall Out Boy. I hope you liked the chapter! If you did please let me know, reviews give me life and motivate me to keep writing! Also, like I said, next chapter things will pick up.**


	3. Blame It On The Alcohol

**A/N: So, this chapter is obsenely long. Sorry about that. I just couldn't find a good spot to break it up. But, it's been forever since I've updated this story so I guess I kinda owe you guys a long ass chapter anyway. I've been focusing on Jealousy lately, so I ended up neglecting this one. Whoops. Anyway, as promised, this chapter brings the heat. But, next chapter...things are taking a very dark turn. And when I say dark, I mean, like, mega super ultra dark. Like fiery pits of hell dark. So, just be warned.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Masashi Kishimoto owns the characters, I'm just borrowing them.**

 **WARNING: Alcohol abuse, cursing, the usual.**

* * *

Sasuke sped down the high-way towards the city at top speed. He weaved through the traffic flawlessly, ignoring with mild annoyance the honks and cursing from the other drivers. To his advantage, there weren't any cops around at this time of night. At least, he had been lucky enough not to have crossed one's path yet.

As he entered the city, he was forced to slow down. He cursed at the slower pace and the ridiculous driving skills of the other people on the road. Two left turns, three right turns, and fifteen minutes later, he found himself parked in front of a Starbucks and staring at a blond man, sitting on the curb, with a cup held tightly in both hands.

The raven sighed and exited his car. He casually made his way over to the blond and flicked his head.

"Where's that umbrella I told you to bring?"

Naruto snapped out of his daze and blinked up at Sasuke through the rain. He smiled slightly and stood up. "Thanks for coming. Sorry."

"Tch. Just get in the car."

Sasuke watched as Naruto slid into the passenger seat and shook his head. The blond was soaking wet and shivering. Luckily, he had an extra sweatjacket with him. He popped his trunk open and snatched the jacket up, folding it and stuffing it under his sweatshirt to prevent it from getting wet. He slammed the lid and took his place at the drivers seat, throwing the jacket on Naruto's lap.

"Cover up, moron." He watched as the blond pulled the jacket over the front of himself, using it as a blanket. The raven nodded in satisfaction and turned the heat on low. "So, I take it the date didn't go well?" He waited for a response and when he decided that he probably wouldn't be getting one, he turned up the music and pulled out onto the road.

Naruto put his seat back and shifted until he was laying comfortably on his side, facing Sasuke. He looked up at the raven's stoic expression and sighed.

"Hey."

"Hn?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and turned the music back down.

"I'm sorry I made you drive out here. I had money for a cab but the dinner ended up being way more-"

"Don't worry about it." Sasuke waved a hand, assuring Naruto that it was no big deal.

"Still. Every time my car ends up in the shop you have to keep going out of your way to help me. I really appreciate it, ya know."

"Naruto, I don't mind helping you. This is how a friendship works. We help each other out."

The blond nodded and pulled the sweatshirt up so that it was covering his mouth. He relaxed himself, letting his eyes close. The music playing was soothing and quiet, very fitting for a rainy night. He focused on the melody and drifted in and out of sleep.

Just as Naruto began to fall into a deep sleep the music transitioned into a metal song. The guitars thrashed through the speakers, causing the blond to jerk awake. He sat up and rubbed his tired face, scowling at the raven smirking beside him.

"Gah, what the fuck Sasuke? What the hell is this?" He leaned back against the seat, rubbing his tired face.

"Five Finger Death Punch. What? You don't like it?" He let out a small chuckle, ignoring the glare Naruto was giving him.

"Not when I just finally fell asleep." He sighed and pulled the sweatshirt back up to his chin. "But, hey, since I'm up now...can I talk to you about what happened?"

"If you must."

"I really must."

"Then go ahead, idiot." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto took a deep breath and when he let it out, he unloaded everything all at once. "Well, it went okay at first. I met her where Kiba told me to and I took her to this resteraunt that Sai recommended, which you need to remind me to yell at him for later because _damn_ it was out of my price range! Anyway, we get there and I notice she looks uncomfortable, which I expected, ya know. And then she asks me how I got the scars so I told her I didn't know but I've had them ever since I could remember. She get's all weird about it and barely touches her food even though she ordered, like, the most expensive freakin' thing on the damn menu! Gah, anyway, I asked her if the scars bothered her and it was really awkward and I wanted to run away, and she told me they kind of freaked her out. She said they reminded her of a horror movie or something. I changed the subject and then later her phone rang and when she answered it she said 'thank God' and then told me she had to meet up with her friend." He inhaled sharply, having spoke faster than Sasuke thought humanly possible. He turned to look out the window and fidgeted with the sweatjacket on his lap.

"She really did that?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the blond. He had heard all about Naruto's past dates and assumed this would be no different. However, this woman sounded much more rude than the others had been. Just where the hell was Kiba finding these girls?

"Yeah. But it's fine. I've already accepted my fate. I'm doomed do die alone, ya know." Naruto turned back towards Sasuke and laughed awkwardly. But the raven could detect the sadness in his hollow voice.

"It's very out of character for you to give up." Sasuke stated.

"Yeah, well, I can take a hint. Besides, if I meet someone, that's great. But, I'm not gonna keep goin' on these bogus dates."

"That may be wise. Blind dates don't have the best track record of working out."

"If only I didn't have these stupid scars. I fucking hate them. Maybe I should just buy that Luchador mask I keep talkin' about. Or wear a paper bag over my head and have Sai draw an attractive face on it that people will like." He laughed again and scratched the back of his head. "Girls sure are picky, ya know."

Sasuke tightened his grip on the stearing wheel, his knuckles turning white. "Shut up."

"W-what?"

"I don't get what the big fucking deal is. Your scars are barely noticeable. These girls are just superficial cunts." He subconsciously increased his driving speed as he spoke.

Naruto's eyes widened, his hands releasing the fabric of the sweatjack as his body froze. "Sasuke...I don't get it..."

"Well, I don't get why everyone is so fixated on your scars. With or without them you're still..." He stopped himself before finishing the thought and cleared his throat. "I just don't think they stand out that much is all."

"You're used to them. You see me every day."

"Either way, it's rude to stare and it's definitely rude to come out and tell someone that you don't like something about their appearance."

"You're one to talk! You were one of the first people to make fun of me for them!"

Sasuke scowled, shrugging his shoulders. "I was a kid. That's different. Besides, I apologized for it later."

"No you didn't."

"Fine. I'm sorry I made fun of your stupid face."

"I'll forgive you on one condition." Naruto grinned widely, his features screaming 'mischief'.

"...What's your condition?" Sasuke asked warily. He was familiar with Naruto's conditions and more times than not, it was something utterly ridiculous and annoying.

"Say three nice things about me. No sarcasm. That'll make up for you being mean to me." His grin spread as Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Do I really have to do this? Can't I just buy you a new iPod or a video game or something?" He sighed and rubbed his temple. It was just as he predicted, his request was very much ridiculous and annoying.

"Nope. You can't buy my forgiveness. You have to earn it the old fashioned way."

Sasuke rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. With a deep breath, he pulled back out onto the highway and glanced at the eager blond. "Fine. Three things, huh?" He thought for a moment, weaving around the slower paced cars. "I don't find your voice as horribly annoying as I used to and-"

"No sarcasm!"

"Well, I wouldn't quite clasify that as sarcasm, more like-"

"Don't care. You have to be extra nice this time. Don't cover up your compliments with insults, bastard."

Sasuke bit his lip. What had he done to deserve such torture? "Fuck it." He inhaled deeply and exhaled, stiffening in his seat despite the attempt to relax. "You're pretty much the only person I can stand to be around, Your laugh is contagious even if I don't want it to be, and..." heat spread through his cheeks and he swallowed. "And I guess, I don't mind your eye color."

Sasuke was expecting laughter. However, he didn't recieve a response at all. Worried, he glanced to the side, capturing a glimpse of Naruto in the corner of his eye. The blond simply stared at him, eyes wide and mouth pressed into a fine line.

"Don't ever make me do that again, moron. And quit staring, you're being weird." The heat in his cheeks came back with a vengeance, burning and threatening to expose him for the hopeless lovesick puppy he never wanted to admit he was. He shoved all thoughts aside and focused on the road. His burning face cooled gradually, only to have the flame ignited moments later.

"Sasuke, you're my favorite. Have I ever told you that?" He chuckled and nestled into his seat, getting comfortable. His hands searched for the sweatjacket and returned it to his upper body.

"Don't get too comfortable, idiot. We're almost to your apartment." He kept his gaze on the road and refused to look at the blond. What the hell was going on with him lately? Since when did he turn into a damn school girl?

A faint snoring could be heard over the quiet music. The raven sighed and looked over at the blond, peacefully sleeping. His hair was matted against his face from the rain, a few strands laying over his eyes. He reached out and gently brushed the hair away, the blond twitching his nose in response. Sasuke almost smiled. Almost. He watched as Naruto's chest steadily rose and fell. Glancing back at the road just in time to see the entrance to Naruto's apartment complex, he pulled in with slight regret at getting there so soon.

He parked in his usual spot at the end and turned the car off. Naruto's snoring became more vocal in the past minute or so and he was beginning to drool.

"Hey." Sasuke said, softly. "Naruto, we're here." He proded the blond in the side. Naruto grunted and turned over, the snoring returned in seconds. "Oi, moron!" Whoever said Sasuke was a patient man was a liar. "Wake up!" He flicked him in the forehead rather hard and the blond jerked awake.

"Wha? Who's there?!" Naruto sat up, head spinning, and took in his surroundings through blurry eyes.

"It's me. Death. I've come for your soul." Sasuke said dryly.

"Haha, very funny, bastard." He streched and yawned, his jaw popping. "How long was I out?"

"Like, five minutes. Get out of my car. I have work in the morning."

"Okay, okay, jeeze." He opened his door and turned back towards Sasuke. "Here's your jacket. I'll give the rest of your clothes back tomorrow. Thanks for the ride."

"Keep the jacket. I never use it anyway. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks. See ya, bastard." He slammed the door and disappeared through the double doors of the building.

Sasuke watched his back as he left. With a sigh, he let his head fall back against the headrest and rubbed his face. "Why him of all people?"

* * *

The minute he reached his floor and stepped out of the elevator, Sasuke was flooded by woman with clipboards. They followed him as he continued walking towards his office, his face expressionless and his voice emotionless.

"Mr. Uchiha! I have those numbers you asked for!" A blonde woman shoved a paper towards him.

"Thank you."

"Sir, I have a list of appointments for you. You have a meeting in an hour with Neji Hyuuga." Another woman, adorned in a short pencil skirt and a see-through white blouse said as she handed him the day's schedule.

"Hyuuga? I thought I told Danzo I wasn't interested in meeting with him..."

"I'm sorry sir. Should I cancel for you?"

"Nevermind that now. Thank you."

A redhead with thick rimmed glasses approached him and batted her eyelashes. "Sasuke! I have your coffee. It's black, just how you like it! I got it a little earlier today so it would be the perfect temperature for you. I know how you hate-"

"Thank you, Karin."

"You're welcome, Sasuke!" The redhead blushed furiously, leaning in a little too close for Sasuke's comfort as she handed him his morning coffee. She tugged his sleeve as he turned away. He turned with narrowed eyes, his mouth set in a frown.

"If you need anything else, anything at all, and I mean _anything_ , just let me know. Kay?" She pulled her glasses off and pouted her lips.

"Hn." He turned away and entered his office, practically slamming the door shut.

With a sigh, he fell into his leather chair and rested his arms utop his sleek black desk, his head laying on his forearms. He was beginning to think finishing off that bottle of Jack at eleven at night was a bad idea. His head was throbbing and his stomach was turning.

A sickeness rose from the pit of his stomach and up to his throat. He quickly grabbed the nearby waste basket and heaved the sour liquid into it. And, with the most perfect timing, there was a knock on the door and before he could respond, it opened.

"Rough night, champ?" A white haired man smirked and plopped himself down in one of the seats in front of the desk. "You look awful."

Sasuke scowled at the man and wiped his face with a tissue. "What the hell do you want, Suigetsu?"

"Hurtful. I only came to tell you that Danzo is coming by later to see how the meeting with Neji goes. He totally went behind your back, you know. What a dick move."

"And how is it that you're always so well informed of business affiars that you have nothing to do with?" He rolled his eyes and sipped his coffee to wash out the taste of sickness on his tongue.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Word gets around. And you know me, I feed off of drama. It's entertaining." He ingored the glare from Sasuke and continued. "I'm surprised you haven't told the guy to 'fuck off' yet. I mean, he was really only supposed to be in charge of the company until you were old to enough to take over, right? Well, here you are, rightful head of the company and he's still sticking around. Why?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but he's here to assist me in my first year of running the place. He's got twenty years of experience on me and he worked closely with my father."

"Makes sense. But, from what I can tell, you're a natural at this sort of thing. And, from where I'm standing, it seems as though he's only trying to _dictate_ what you do, not _assist."_

"Are you only here to gossip? Listen, I don't have the patience for this right now. Don't you have work you should be doing?"

"Okay, okay, I can take a hint-"

"Get the fuck out of my office, dumbass."

"Ouch. There you go being hurtful again." He made a pouty face and slapped his hand over his heart as he stood from his seat.

"Out. Now."

"Alrighty then." He smirked, devilishly. "I'll just leave you to nurse that hangover."

" _ **Out.**_ "

Sasuke scowled as he watched Suigetsu mock salute him and lazily exit the office. Once alone, he propped his elbows on his desk and began rubbing his temples. He really should cut back on the alcohol, he thought. With a heavy sigh, he stood and walked over to the large window that covered the majority of the left side of his office. He looked out over the skyline of the city, the sun beaming over the buildings, thousands of windows glaring. It wasn't helping his throbbing headache much so he turned away, returning to his desk just in time to grab the waste basket again.

"Of all the days to have a meeting with Neji fucking Hyuuga." He frowned at his coffee and brought it to his lips to, once again, wash away the sickness from his mouth.

Just then, his office door swung open, almost causing him to spit his beverage all over his keyboard. "Sasuke!"

"For your sake, this better be a fucking emergency." He glared over his cup at Juugo, who stood awkwardly in the door way. His expression was one of worry.

"It's Karin and Suigetsu..."

"What are they doing now?" He sighed and set his cup down, slowly rising from his seat.

"All but murdering each other."

"And there isn't anyone else here who can handle this? You've got to burden the fucking head of the company to break up a cat fight?"

"Well, I realize this isn't exactly appropriate...but everyone else is just cheeering them on and I wasn't sure who else to-"

"Forget it. I'll put an end to this." He stormed past the taller man and as soon as he emerged from the office, the entire floor went dead silent.

The sight that greeted him made his eye twitch. Karin had Suigetsu in a choke hold while he had his mouth clamped against her arm and they were surrounded by his so-called "qualified" employees.

With as deep a voice he could manage he called out to them. "Karin! Suigetsu! In my office. Now!" The authority he projected had them immediately straightening up. Although, the pointy toothed bastard still found the courage to smirk at him.

"But, Sasuke, it wasn't five minutes ago you ordered me-"

" **In my office. Right. Now."**

"As you command, your majesty." Every head in the room turned. The feeling of death hung heavy in the air. Karin's jaw dropped and she slapped the back of his head as she followed him into Sasuke's office.

Karin shut the door quietly and stood as far away from Suigetsu as she could manage. "Sasuke, I'm sorry for the disturbance. But Suigetsu-"

"Shut up and listen." Sasuke said cooly. "I have a meeting with that Hyuuga bastard in less than an hour, Danzo will be here later, I have a headache from fucking Hell, and I really don't need this. You two need to adjust your behavior or you can start comtemplating other job opportunities. Is that understood?"

"But Sasuke-"

"Karin, I know that you, Suigetsu and I were acquaintances in college-"

"Aquintances?" Suigetsu look mock-hurt. "Oi, we were tight as-"

"We happened to be taking the same courses and I recall the both of you sustaining a fairly high grade point average, which is why I hired you when I took over. You're not here because we're friends. You're here because I expected qualified employees. I did you a favor by giving you a chance to prove yourselves in this feild. Don't waste that chance."

"You cold bastard." Suigetsu shook his head, hand on his hip. "But, I understand. You're under pressure or whatever. That Danzo is ruthless."

"Just be sure that you're more professional in the future."

"Of course, Sasuke." Karin said as politely as she could, careful not to expose how hurt she was feeling. "Our behavior was innapropriate. It won't happen again."

"Tch, suck up." Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "But, yeah, won't happen again. Pinky promise." He smirked and held out his pinky.

Sasuke glared back and nodded his head. "Now, go get some fucking work done. I've got to get mentally prepared to deal with Hyuuga. Go."

The pair nodded their heads and quietly left his office.

The following forty-five minutes proved to be more stressful than the Uchiha had imagined. Nursing his hangover took priority and it wasn't working out as well as Sasuke had hoped. As a last ditch effort, he sipped a gatorade and massaged his temples, eyes closed. At first, he thought that had done the trick. Until he opened his eyes and the light pounded into his eyeballs and attacked his brain.

"Sasuke!" His office door sprung open, hitting the wall with a loud 'bang'.

"Son of a _**fuck!**_ " Sasuke jerked upright and slammed his fist down on his desk. "What is it now?!"

"S-sorry." It was the blond-headed girl with the rather see-through blouse. "Mr. Hyuuga is here. He's waiting outside, are you ready for him?"

"No." Sasuke sighed. "Send him in anyway."

Straightening his posture and adjusting his tie, he took a deep breath. He really couldn't be in a worse mood. When Neji walked in, he rose from his seat and reluctantly shook his hand.

"Uchiha." The brunette greeted, a smirk tugging at his lips. "It's been a while."

* * *

"Oi, Whiskers! Stop daydreaming!" Naruto shook his head and met his boss' glare. "Your bags per minute should be at twenty. You're doing fifteen. We have a quota to meet, get your head out of the clouds."

"Yes, sir." Naruto growled. He picked up the next bag and brought it to the bagger, hitting the lever with his forearm as fast as he could. He picked up the next bag, and then the next. His speed increasing gradually.

"Ah, that's just great. Now my shoulders are gonna be killing me!" Shikamaru complained beside him as he closed the bags and guided them into the sealer.

"Sorry. Boss' orders." Naruto sighed.

"Yeah, I know. Damn slave drivers around here. Twenty bags a minute? This is such a drag."

"And to think we actually went to college, just to end up here."

"I thought an important job would be too troublesome. But I'm starting to rethink that idea." He sighed heavily as a bag went through crooked. He pulled the bag back towards him as fast as he could and corrected it, causing the bags coming toward him on the conveyer belt to get jammed up. "Damn it all!"

"Oh, whoops!" Naruto said and quickly pulled bags off of the line to give Shikamaru time to catch up. "Sorry, I didn't notice you messed up." He smiled sheepishly as he replaced the bags when Shikamaru nodded an "okay".

"What's the hold up here?" Of course his boss would come back right at that moment.

"Sorry, sir. We got a little backed up."

"Can't keep up, lazy-boy?"

"The increase in pace caught me off gaurd. I'm fine now. Sorry."

"Ya know, this order is being shipped to a new client over seas. We need to make a good impression. Get your heads out of your asses, boys. Especially you, Whiskers. I've had enough of you not taking things seriously."

"Yes, sir."

The two worked in silence until their hot-tempered supervisor had finally returned to his office. When the coast was clear, Naruto turned to Shikamaru, careful to keep his pace steady.

"So how are you and Temari doing? You gonna propose to her or what?"

Shikamaru let out a sigh and kept his eyes on his work. "Damn that Kiba. Why'd he have to go and ask Hinata to marry him? Now the other girls are expecting it too. Even Karui's been dropping hints at Chouji."

"What's the big deal? You love her right? Might as well seal the deal, ya know."

"What does marriage really mean though? What does an official document change about a relationship? Wedding planning and honeymoons and all of that are just so troublesome. And for what purpose? To go back to living exactly the same way you did before?"

"I think it's romantic. It's a way to really show someone just how serious you are. It's a way show the world how in love you are and make a statement about how much you want that person to be a part of your life forever." Naruto frowned to himself and glanced at the computer, noticing his bags per minute had dropped again. He quickly picked up the pace, cursing under his breath.

"Or I could just tell her all of that instead of spending money we really don't have just to awkwardly stand in front of a bunch of people who are really only there for free food and alcohol." Shikamaru sighed and cursed as the bags came at him faster and his muscles began to ache.

"Gee, Shika, you're a real charmer."

"And you're a hopeless romantic. How do you not have a girlfriend? Women love that mushy stuff."

"Because women also love men with pretty faces like Sasuke's."

"Then why is he single?"

"Because he hates everyone."

"Good point." Shikamaru smirked. "Speaking of that bastard, how's his problem doing?"

"I think it's gettin' worse." Naruto frowned, his muscles tensing. "I still haven't told anyone else about it. I thought maybe I could handle it on my own but...I don't know anymore. Nothing I say really helps."

"Man, he's too smart to let something like this ruin his career. And that'll definitely happen if he keeps it up the way you've been talking."

"It's almost every night now. Sometimes I don't say anything but I can tell he's hungover. What should I do? I just don't know the right way to go about it, ya know?"

"Well, there's really nothing you can do unless he actually wants the help. You can't help someone who wont help themselves."

"Yeah, I guess." Naruto sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall to the right of him. Finally, break time.

* * *

"You won't even consider?" Neji asked, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed.

"No. In fact, I honestly didn't even want to meet with you today. This was Danzo's doing." Sasuke frowned, taking a sip of his coffee. His frowned deepened. His coffee had gotten too cold. He made a mental note to have Karin go get him another.

"You shouldn't let your personal life invade your professional life, Sasuke." Neji smirked.

"I'm doing no such thing." Sasuke stated simply. "This has nothing to do with personal affairs."

"Oh?" The brunett cocked an eyebrow. "So this has nothing to do with our past?"

"So, which one of us is bringing our personal lives into our proffesional lives? I never mentioned our past."

"You aren't fooling me, Uchiha. What other reason could you possibly have? Merging would benefit the both of us."

"I don't need Hyuuga Corps. to further my success."

"Or is this because of the rivalry between your father and my uncle?" Neji inquired, crossing his legs.

"I'm not my father. And I have no interest in his pety rivalry. I simply don't see any real reason to merge. I'd like to uphold my family name. Uchiha Corps. will always be on top, I'm doing fine on my own."

"Ah, I see." His pale eyes gleamed, clearly amused. "So, this is about pride. You want to prove your worth, is that right? You desire success without the help of others? I'm not surprised, honestly. You've always been that way, so determined to do everything on your own."

"Think what you like, Hyuuga."

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to be so childish about this. But I suppose it can't be helped. With your stubborn attitude, I doubt I'd be able to sway you."

"It's unlikely, yes. So, are we done here?"

"For now, yes. I'll see you around, Uchiha." The brunett smirked and rose from his seat. He paused at the door and turned back towards the raven. "Good luck." He was gone seconds later.

Sasuke sighed and relaxed in his seat. He hit the call button on his desk and summoned Karin. As he waited for her, he opened his email on the desktop in front of him. As usual, there was an ungodly amount of unread messages. He scanned the titles of each message, all of which were from current and potential clients. It took all he had not to slam his head against the desk.

"Sasuke?" Karin said hesitantly as he creaked the door open and stepped in. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, I need another coffee. Make it a large." He said, clearly irritated.

The redhead nodded, frowning at the distraught Uchiha behind the desk. "Everything okay?"

"Just get my coffee."

"Yes, of course."

"Thank you."

She smiled slightly and slipped back out of his office. He almost felt bad for his cold attitude but decided she'd get over it. He opened one of the emails and began typing a reply when his innercom buzzed.

He pressed the button down, scowling at the speaker. "Yes?"

 _"Danzo's here. Shall I send him in?"_

Slamming his head against the desk was becoming overwhelmingly tempting. "Yeah."

Moments later, Danzo entered the office. He looked rather displeased.

"I crossed paths with Neji Hyuuga on my way up here." He stated, taking a seat. "He told me you refused his offer. Why?"

"Because Uchiha Corps. is doing fine on it's own." Sasuke said flatly, narrowing his eyes.

"Merging would be beneficial. I thought we talked about this."

"And I thought I told you already that I was not interested in doing so."

"I know that your father-"

"Despite what you may think, his rivalry with Hiashi Hyuuga has no influence on my decision."

"Either way, it was a bad decision. I suggest you contact Hyuuga and-"

"No. I'm not merging. I can assure you that this business will continue to thrive without the help of Hyuuga Corps." Man, he was getting tired of repeating himself.

"Perhaps, if you were Itachi, I would have believed you." Danzo sighed.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Venom dripped from his words as his hand clenched around the styrofoam coffee cup, crushing it.

"It's a shame that the pressure of being a genius drove him into insanity. He was truly the perfect heir for your great-grandfather's company. Madara Uchiha himself would have been impressed by Itachi's capability. Such wasted potential in your elder brother." He stared unflinchingly at Sasuke, who was shaking in his seat.

"Don't you dare speak of Itachi in front of me." He spat.

"You know," The old man spoke calmly. "Had Itachi been the one to take over, I'm sure he would have merged. He would have at least been pratical enough to realize the benefits. He was such a bright boy."

"Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Sasuke stood from his seat, the chair rolling backwards and slamming into the wall. The intercom buzzed and he ripped it from the cord and threw it across the room.

"Calm down, Sasuke." Danzo sighed. "It isn't your fault that you weren't born gifted like your brother was. And it certainly isn't your fault that he snapped and stuck you with the responsibility of the family business."

" **Get. Out.** " He growled, clenching and unclenching his fists, just itching to break the old man's face.

"Excuse me?" Danzo asked calmly, remaining perfectly still.

"Get the hell out of here. You're fired." He was shaking with rage now, on the brink of explosion.

"You're firing me, are you?" A black eybrow raised as he slowly stood from his seat. "Well, if you're certain about this decision, good luck with not running your family's company into the ground." He turned his back to him as he gently opened the door. "Trust me, you'll need all the luck you can get, kid." He smirked before leaving the fuming Uchiha alone.

Sasuke glared at the old man's back as he left. His entire body trembling as he bit into his lip, drawing blood that dripped and fell from his chin. So much for cutting back on the alcohol.

* * *

"Ya know, I don't really get why this show is so popular." Kiba said around the Dorritos in his mouth. "I mean, come on, everyone's raving over this shit and it really ain't nothin' great."

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "I mean, it's cool I guess. But, it ain't, like, award-winning shit or nothin'."

"Well, the plot isn't anything we haven't seen before." Sai said. "But, the male characters are pretty nice to look at. So, I suppose that's where a majority of the fan-base comes from."

"Dude." Kiba said, waving a hand. "I'm cool with you bein' bi or whatever, but can you stick to your straight half when you're hangin' with the dudes, bro?"

"I believe that's offensive, kiba." Sai frowned. "Naruto, should I be offended by that?"

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. How could anyone be so clueless when it came to their own emotions? Although, he couldn't blame the kid after everything he'd been through. It wasn't his fault he was weird. "Yeah." He said. "Kiba that was fuckin' shitty, man. Sai can be himself, he doesn't need to act differently around us, that's not fair."

"Psh. Says the guy who practically crushes on his best bud. His _male_ best bud." Kiba said, eyebrow raised.

"What the Hell's that 'sposed to mean, dog-face?" Naruto asked, defensively.

"Just means that you talk about his good looks way more than a straight guy should." He said simply.

"I'm straight, not blind. Anyone with working eyeballs can tell he's attractive." He shrugged. "Guy's got a face carved by the gods. S'not my fault he's so pretty."

Kiba practically spat out his chips. "Dude! That's what I'm talking about! You are so gay for Sasuke and everyone knows it."

"Shut up!" Naruto growled, blushing. "Sai, back me up here!"

"Well, Naruto's got a point." He agreed. "Finding someone attractive has nothing to do with sexuality. Even a straight man can tell the difference between an ugly man and a handsome man."

"See!" Naruto said, bouncing in his seat. "Told ya!"

"Dude's into dudes, though!" Kiba argued. "I'd say that Sasuke's not ugly. But, I'd never say anything like 'he's got a face carved by the gods'. Man, that's super homo."

"Whatever. I'm just sayin' he's a good lookin' guy. Kinda pisses me off, ya know. It's like he's hogging all the handsome-ness while guys like me get stuck with faces like this." He frowned, pointing to his scars.

"Yeah, well, his personality totally fuckin' ruins it. So I guess that evens out the score. You're way more fun than that gloom and doom emo fuck."

"Don't talk about him like that Kiba. S'not fair. He's just..."

"A total fuckin' prick? Yeah." Kiba deadpanned.

"If I may interject..." Sai started. "I do agree with Kiba on this. I don't have anything personal against Sasuke, but he hates me for no reason and I feel like that is quite rude. Also, his personality is so sour and dark. He's egotistical and-"

"Okay guys." Naruto said, frustrated. "Stop. We shouldn't be talkin' shit behind his back."

"Aw, defendin' your boyfriend?" Kiba asked, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, dude." Naruto sighed. "But speakin' of Sasuke...I'm starting to get a bad feeling. He still hasn't texted me back and he always stops by after work and if he doesn't, he at least lets me know. But I can't get a hold of him." He frowned, scrolling through his text messages.

"So? He's probably in one of his moods or somethin'." Kiba shrugged.

"No, seriously. He _always_ comes over. Fuck, man, sometimes I get home and he's already on my couch with a controller in his hand, smashin' zombies and shit. It's not like him to not even text or anything."

"You guys are so close, it's weird." Kiba said, rolling his eyes. "Me and Hinata aren't even that bad."

"Kiba, please, I'm being serious. Would one of you guys give me a ride to his place?" Naruto asked, pleadingly.

"No way, dude!" Kiba jumped in his seat. "If anyone but you shows up at his house, he'll light them on fire with his fuckin' eyeballs. Dude's got a killer glare. I'm not in the mood to combust into flames tonight."

"Quit bein' dramatic." Naruto rolled his eyes. "You can wait in the car, I'll be real quick, I swear!"

"I'd offer, Naruto." Sai said, hesitantly. "But, Sasuke really hates me...I'm not comfortable with coming anywhere near him."

"Fine. Sai's got a point. If there's one person Sasuke really can't stand, it's him. I don't know why exactly, but he just does. So, Kiba, please? Please? Please? Pleeeaaase?!" Naruto dropped to the floor, kneeling before the brunett, hands intertwined as if praying to the gods for a miracle.

"Oh my God, bro!" Kiba practically yelled. "Fine! Fuckin' fine. I'll do it. But, you're payin' my hospital bills!"

"Thank you!" Naruto beamed.

"Whatever, man. Let's just get this over with." Kiba sighed, standing and stalking towards the door.

* * *

Naruto jumped in place in front of Sasuke's door. It was cold. So, so cold. And of course he didn't have a jacket. And what the hell was taking the bastard so long? His heart raced as he began to fear the worst, and he started banging on the door again.

"Sasuke!" He yelled through the heavy wooden door. "Come on, man! It's fuckin' freezin' out here!" He rubbed his hands together and continued to hop. An impatient horn sounded from behind him and he whirled around to face Kiba, giving him the finger. "Sasuke!"

At long last, the door crept open. Naruto gasped when Sasuke's pale face appeared. He had bags under his eyes and he was in his work suit. Although, the jacket had been removed and his tie was loose and crooked. His hair was crazier than usual, standing up on all ends and matted in some places. Oh, and not to mention, he _reeked_ of alcohol.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, eyes narrowed and swaying against the door frame.

"Woah." Naruto couldn't help himself. "You look like a train wreck. You okay?"

"Am I okay?" He laughed darkly. "If being a crushing disappointment is being 'okay', than yes. I'm fucking super."

"Crushing disappointment?" Naruto asked, blond brow raised. "Okay. What's going on?"

That pesky, impatient horn sounded behind him again and he turned to find the brunett leaning out of the driver's side window. "Oi, blondie! He's alive, can we get out of here? Hinata's blowing up my phone, wondering where I'm at!"

Naruto turned back to face Sasuke and took in his weary expression. He bit his lip and turned to the brunett. "Just a minute!"

"Dude! I don't have a fuckin' minute! She's in bridezilla mode! You have no idea what I'm dealing with here! Wrap it up, Goddamn it!"

"Uh, are you sure you're okay?" He asked the raven.

"Stay." He said, his eyes pleading.

"What? I don't got a car. You know that. S'why Kiba's here. And you're too drunk to take me home." He frowned, his heart sinking as he watched tears well in the corners of Sasuke's obsidian eyes. _Damn it, this can't be good._

"You can sleep here. I'll take you to work in the morning." Sasuke said, an unfamiliar tone present in his voice. One that made the blond shiver. He just sounded so _sad._

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Hold on." He said and ran down the side-walk, approaching the brunett's car.

"Hey, man. He's pretty messed up over somethin'. I'm just gonna stay here. Go home and apologize to Hinata for me." He patted the top of the car before sliding his hands in his pockets and returning to the raven.

"Okay, but don't forget you owe me for this!" Kiba called after him before turning up his music and peeling out of the drive-way.

Naruto followed Sasuke into the house, careful to catch him whenever he stumbled, and led him to the sofa. He exhaled dramatically and pulled his legs up, sitting Indian-style as he turned to face the Uchiha.

"So." He began, tiredly. How many times was he going to find Sasuke like this? "What happened today?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa. He opened one eye and peeked at the blond. "Things. Sucky things." He said, closing the one eye again.

"Yeah. I get that. Details?" He knew quite well that Sasuke was not a man of many words, but he had work in the morning and he didn't feel like playing this game right now.

"I fired Danzo." He said quietly. Naruto's eyes widened, his lips parting in surprise. "He compared me to Itachi. Said he would've been better than me at running the company. He was right though. My brother was born a genius and I've never been able to catch up to him. Even now, the fucker murders our entire family and he's still never been caught. He's out there somewhere, laughing at my misery. Too damn clever to ever be found. He's always been two steps ahead of the game."

Naruto bit his lip. Itachi had always been a sensitive subject. And these conversations never led anywhere good. "Sasuke, you can't keep comparing yourself to him. You're smart and talented too, ya know. I've always been jealous of you, you're fuckin' awesome at everything-"

"Don't fucking patronize me, idiot." Sasuke spat, turning towards him, head spinning. "I've always been in Itachi's shadow. I could never compare to his greatness. By age twelve he had his own paintings hanging in galleries, by age fifteen he composed three full length songs all on his own, he was the star basketball player, he had the highest test scores in the state and some of the best in the country, he was scouted by the most prestigous colleges with the strictest requirements, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone praised him, my parent's were obsessed with his achievements and wouldn't shut up about him. And then there was me. Just plain ol' Sasuke who wasn't anything special. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, none of my achievements could compare to the greatness that was Itachi fucking Uchiha." He growled, rubbing at his tired face.

"Sasuke, you-"

"And even now. I've taken over my family's company and everyone just expects me to fail. Because, oh God, it's such a shame that I'm the one who made it. Itachi had such fucking potential, too bad he snapped and killed his fucking family!" He was yelling now, fists clenched. "They want me to merge with Hyuuga Corps. because they think I'm going to run the company into the ground! And, you know what? They're probably right. Because, I'm not Itachi. I'm not as clever or talented as he is-"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders. "Stop it! I can't believe what I'm hearing right now! Who gives a fuck about your bastard brother? I sure as hell don't. And I don't give a rat's ass how smart or talented he was. You're amazing too, Sasuke. The real shameful thing here is that people can't see it. Itachi cracked under the pressure of being a genius. But, you were always the top of our class and you were great at every single thing you attempted. Always coming out on top. And what happened to you? You sure as hell didn't cave under the pressure and kill anyone. You went to college and graduated top of your class, as always. You took over your family's company and you're running it just fine. I always check the newspaper, just to see what people are saying about you and Uchiha Corps., and it's always good things. You're fucking amazing, Sasuke. I would kill to be like you. I've always admired you and I really mean that." His azure eyes bore into Sasuke's obsidian, his eyebrows downcast in seriousness.

"You..." Sasuke was at loss for words. Whether it was due to his current state of intoxication or the overwhelming joy that spread warmth throughout him, he wasn't sure. Naruto's hands remained on his shoulders, and the weight of them was reassuring and welcome to the Uchiha. He continued to gaze into Naruto's bright blue eyes, feeling as though he were drowning in their absolute beauty.

Something came over him, a feeling in his gut he just couldn't shake. Sasuke leaned forward, sliding his fingers through Naruto's messy blond hair. Before Naruto had a chance to react, he pressed their lips together and kissed him with hungry force. He wrapped his free hand around Naruto's torso and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against the other's hard enough to hurt.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he tried pushing the raven away. To no avail, as Sasuke pulled him closer, refusing to let go. He parted his lips to take a breath and Naruto took advantage of that moment to turn his head away.

"Stop!" He said, shaking. "What the hell are you doing?!" He finally succeeded in pushing the raven away, staring at the dishevelled mess in front of him with wide eyes.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." He said, his voice low.

"W-what?" Naruto asked, confused and shocked.

"I've had a thing for you since we were fourteen." He said with a dark laugh. "This isn't how I imagined telling you, though. I'm going to be pissed at myself in the morning."

"Um..." Naruto stared, blinking. "You must be really drunk. I-I'm just going to go get you some water and-"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm as he attempted to stand, pulling him back onto the sofa. "Don't brush me off, idiot. I'm drunk, yes, but this is something I realized when I was sober."

Naruto swallowed nervously. "Please stop. You're freaking me out."

Sasuke frowned, his heart sinking. "I fucked up, didn't I? This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you I was gay. You're disgusted with me, aren't you?"

"You're gay?!" Naruto jumped, pointing accusingly at the raven. "Seriously?! And you never told me?"

"I just kissed you, idiot. Obviously I'm gay. And I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react like this." He groaned and collapsed against the back of the sofa.

"Dude, I don't care if you're gay! Sai's bisexual and I don't give a fuck about that. You're my best friend, I just wish you would've trusted me enough to tell me about this."

"There's still the issue of my feelings for you. You don't return them do you?" He asked, tilting his head.

"I-I, well, you're my best friend...and, well, that's just weird. I can't think of you that way." Naruto said nervously. This was taking a very unexpected turn and he wasn't sure how to handle it. He's never had to turn someone down before. And he never expected the one person to want him would be Sasuke.

"You've said I was attractive countless times. You won't even give me a chance?" He placed a hand on the blond's thigh, making him blush and push it away immediately.

"Sasuke. I'm straight. It doesn't matter if you're, like, the best looking person I know. I'm still not into dudes." Naruto's voice shook with nerves as he spoke. Why the hell was this happening?

"How do you know if you've never tried being with one?" He asked, voice low and seductive. He leaned foward, placing his hands on Naruto's hips and sucking and biting at his tanned neck.

Naruto froze, eyes widened. "Stop molesting me! You're totally breaking the law right now!"

Sasuke paused in his actions, glancing up at the flustered blond. "You're really disgusted right now, aren't you?"

" _Yes_!" Naruto blurted out, shoving the raven away. A feeling of guilt dropped heavily into the pit of his stomach when he saw the other's face.

"I-I'm sorry." Sasuke said, suddenly feeling a little more sober. "Please, do me a favor and just forget any of this happened. Blame it on the alcohol." He stood up and staggered towards the hallway.

Naruto frowned and pushed a hand through his hair. "Wait." He said, feeling horrible.

"Don't say anything just to spare my feelings, Naruto. I get it, you're not attracted to me. I was being innpropriate." He disappeared into the hall and Naruto jumped up, chasing after him.

"But, I am attracted to you!" Naruto said, pleadingly. "You just kinda freaked me out with all that. I didn't even know you were gay and then you just...ya know. But it has nothing to do with your looks. I'm straight and even I think you're hot."

"Stop." Sasuke said darkly, not bothering to turn towards him. "I don't want your pity. Just go to sleep and forget about what happened."

"Sasuke!" He grabbed the raven's arm and twisted him around. He stared into his eyes, unable to produce any words. His mouth opened and closed as he searched for something to say. What was he feeling anyway? Why wouldn't he just let Sasuke go to bed? It was as if some type of magnetic pull was driving him. It had always been that way with Sasuke. Ever since he could remember.

He had always wanted to follow him. Just to be near him was enough. Something about the commanding way the raven spoke and the way he held such an air of confidence just made Naruto want to stick by him. They were like Yin and Yang, balancing each other perfectly. What one lacked, the other made up for and vice versa. He felt whole when he was with him. And, his dark, enticing eyes, the way his mouth curved just slightly to form a smirk, his deep voice, his raven black hair that framed his beautiful fair-skinned face...

 _fuck._

He thought back to what Kiba had said. _"You're so gay for Sasuke, and everyone knows it."_

He swallowed and tightened his grip on Sasuke. "Maybe, I'm just pissed off because now you've got me all confused." He said, sighing and averting his gaze to the floor.

"Confused?" Sasuke asked, titling his head and leaning close into him. "Maybe I can help you figure it out." He breathed into the blond's ear.

Naruto shuttered as Sasuke gripped his hips and turned him, slamming him against the wall. The raven fisted Naruto's hair and turned his head, exposing his tanned neck, before hungrily biting and sucking at it. A pale hand pressed against the blond's chest and slowly slid down to his groin area, where Sasuke squeezed.

"Nnngh, fuck!" Naruto moaned.

That was it. No more games. Sasuke stopped and grabbed Naruto by the arm, leading him into the bedroom and throwing him onto the bed before straddling him. He pulled the blond's shirt off and ran his hand along his defined ab muscles. He bent down and left a trail of kisses, starting at his neck leading down to the waistline of his faded blue jeans.

"I don't get it." Naruto said, breathing heavily. "Why me?"

"Because," Sasuke said as he un-buttoned the blond, "You're so fucking hot." He slid the jeans down and ran his fingers along the outline of Naruto's bulge.

Naruto blushed, feeling uncomfortable. Sasuke paused and sat up, taking in the blond's expression.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't understand why you'd be attracted to me. You've gotta be super popular with..uh...the guys or whatever. You could probably have anyone you want."

"Well," Sasuke smirked, "I want you."

"But I'm not 'hot'. At all. I've got-"

"Mention the damn scars and I'll deck you." Sasuke growled. "The scars don't bother me. You're still extremely good-looking, with or without them." He bent down and kissed the blond's cheek, lightly brushing the other with his fingertips.

Warmth spread through the blond, his face turning pink. He looked away, embarassed and sat up, forcing the other to sit on his heals in front of him.

"Look," he said, running a hand through his hair. "This is a lot to take in right now...I'll admit that you've got me kinda confused, but, I'm not ready to do anything with you just yet. I need time to process all of this."

"I understand. I'm sorry about this." He frowned. "I'm a little weird when I'm intoxicated. I always do things I end up regretting later."

"Hey," Naruto smiled, "We all get a little weird and horny when we're drunk, ya know. I'm glad you finally told me that you're gay though. Even if it was in a really shocking and awkward way." He laughed, the raven scowling to himself. "And I promise, this won't change anything between us. So you're gay, who gives a shit?" He laughed again and Sasuke clutched the bedsheets, frowning.

"But...if you're confused, about your sexuality, will you at least consider my feelings for you? Just think about it?"

"Sasuke..." Naruto said hesitantly, scratching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I have a feeling there's something you've yet to realize. I can tell I'm not the only one of us that just can't stand the thought of losing the other" His voice was steady and confident as he spoke.

"Well, duh!" Naruto exclaimed. "I don't even know who I'd be if I didn't have you! You're like my other half. Who else would whisper smart things in my ear when I'm saying something really dumb and making a fool of myself without realizing it? Who would help me figure out my bills and fill out applications? I wouldn't even eat properly if you weren't around! No way I could live without you!"

Sasuke smirked, staring back at him knowingly. "Sounds like I'm pretty important to you, Naruto."

"You're probably the most important person in my life, aside from Iruka. You're, like, the broth to my ramen or whatever."

"I see." Sasuke said, crawling past the blond to lay down. He patted the other pillow, inviting the blond to join him. "Nothing sexual, I promise. Just sleep next to me. No reason for you to suffer on the couch while I have a Queen size bed with plenty of extra room."

"Fine." Naruto said, obeying the raven. "But only 'cause your couch sucks."

Sasuke smiled slightly and closed his eyes. Seconds later, his breathing steadied and Naruto watched him as he slept. He had to admit, Sasuke really was much prettier than most girls he knew. And, there was something calming, yet exciting, about being in Sasuke's presence. As reserved as Sasuke was, well, when he was sober anyway, he was still incredibly interesting. Naruto thought for a moment, realizing he always did have a thing for the dark and mysterious type.

Wait, did that mean he really did have a thing for Sasuke?

Regardless, if Sasuke were female, he'd of married him years ago.


	4. Deep, Dark, Secrets

**A/N: Heyyy guys, so I'm back with another chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it, but I must warn you all, the beginning is a little dark and kinda messed up. Fun Fact: I had a few friends proof read it for me to get opinions and they were all like "Holy fuck that's dark." so, I edited it a little to make it less 'woah' because I don't tap into that side of myself often, so when i do I tend to get carried away. Whoops. But, I'm finally getting to Naruto's backstory and I had to make it dark like Sasuke's. Although, Sasuke's is a lot more similar to his canon backstory than Naruto's is. Well, I hope you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think, reviews are what keep me going!**

 **DISCLAIMER: Masashi Kishimoto's bitches, not mine. Also, as always, I do not own, nor did I create, any of the brand names used.**

 **WARNING: The usual and I'm pretty sure I covered it all in the a/n.**

* * *

"I've always wanted a pet fox."

Naruto's eyes widened as a butcher knife came into view. He shivered against the cold cement of the basement floor, scooting backwards, subconsiously, until his back touched the wall.

"Don't be scared, little one." She smirked. Her dark auburn hair was tangled and long, her worn out clothes noticibly loose against her slim frame. The stench of cigarette smoke and body odor clinging to her and assulting his senses. "I've got something to take the pain away." She pulled a syringe from her oversized plaid jacket and squeezed a little out, flicking the needle. "Now, stay still."

Naruto shook as panic overtook him. "Please don't! I'm sorry! I'll be good, I promise!" He began to sob, tears pouring from his big blue eyes. He never imagined that spilling his juice on the carpet would result in such a severe punishment.

"Sit still." She said, firmly gripping the boy's arm as he froze with fear. She undid her belt and slid it out of the loops, wrapping it around Naruto's bicep and tightening it.

"No! Please!" Naruto begged, his eyes squeezing shut as he felt a pinch in his forearm, warmth spreading through him immediately.

"It's okay, Kyuubi, it's only a tiny little dosage. Nothing to worry about." She said, gently stroking his hair. "Now I'm going to make you an official fox. Aren't you excited to finally have your whiskers?"

"Please..." He said, tears streaming down his cheeks. His body was numb, the only thing he could manage to do was stare up at her tired face in a daze.

A blood curdling scream filled the basement as the woman carved three lines into each of his cheeks. His face and clothes were soaked with blood and when the woman finally released him, he curled into a ball, shaking, his eyes wide and unblinking. He stared as she slid her belt back through the loops of her jeans, a dark feeling turning in stomach.

 _I hate you. I want you to die._

 _No, I want to_ _ **kill**_ _you._

His legs shook as he stood, the room blurry and his limbs heavy. When the woman turned away to head towards the stairs, he grabbed the butcher knife she left on the old broken operating table near the door, and tackled her.

He managed to cut her arm before a man appeared in the doorway, his large frame blocking the light. He bent down and picked Naruto up by the collar, throwing him against the wall. Naruto's body lay limp on the cold cement as he coughed. The man helped his wife up and stalked over to Naruto's small frame that curled in on itself. The blond boy knew he had fucked up and was desperately trying to shield himself.

Although, how much more damage could be done now that his face was completely mutilated?

The man kicked Naruto's gut with brute force, eliciting a sharp cry from the boy. He wrenched him up by the hair and grabbed his face, turning it to meet his angry eyes.

"You shouldn't attack your own mother." He said darkly.

"She's not my mother!" Naruto screamed back, his voice hoarse.

"Your real mother's dead, Kyuubi. She's your mother now." He slammed the boy's head against the wall and turned away. "Get in your cage. If you're not in there by the time I come to check on you, you'll regret it. We'll bring your food and water bowls down in an hour, as long as you behave yourself."

The man followed his wife up the stairs, leaving Naruto in pitch black solitude. He sobbed silently as he crawled towards the small metal cage located in the corner of the room. He shut the door, squeezing his arm through the bars to latch it shut. Bringing his knees up to his chin and leaning against the back bars, he ran his fingers along the burning slashes that lined his cheeks. He stared down in horror at the blood that dripped from his fingertips, the pain wasn't as bad as he thought it should be. But, he assumed whatever was in that syringe had something to do with that.

He shut his eyes and prayed for a miracle. For a friend. A hero. Someone, anyone, to come save him.

 _ **Beep! Beep! Beep!**_

The shrill screeching of an alarm clock forced Naruto's eyes open. He panted as he sat up in bed, placing a hand on his forehead. Fuck, he had the worst heachache. He struggled to control his breathing as he tried to shake off the nightmare. Well, not much of a nightmare, more like a memory that clawed it's way to the surface whenever his brain was vulnerable and incapable of forcing it away.

He glanced to his left, remembering the events that had occurred prior to this morning. Sasuke was still peacefully sleeping beside him, his dark fringe hiding part of his face. Naruto had to admit, Sasuke was stunning. For a guy, anyway. He sighed and proded the raven in the side.

"Hey." He said, proding harder. "Sasuke, wake up."

The raven grunted and turned to his other side, pulling the blanket with him. He was far from a morning person.

"Sasuke!" Naruto said, louder this time. He flicked the back of his friend's head. Big mistake.

"What?!" Sasuke snapped as he turned towards him.

"You said you'd give me a ride to work, remember?" Naruto's voice was hoarse and weak. And, he must have looked just as bad as he sounded.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, suddenly looking worried. "You look like you've been crying." He frowned and reached up to wipe a tear from the corner of the blond's eye.

"I'm fine. Bad dream." Naruto brushed him off as he climbed out of bed and shuffled into Sasuke's bathroom where he promptly relieved himself and rummaged through the cabinets for the spare toothbrush he kept there.

Sasuke shuffled in a minute later, relieving himself as Naruto brushed his teeth. He bumped the blond with his hip to give him room to wash his hands. He stared at Naruto through the refection of the mirror.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked as he began drying his hands off.

"No. I don't have time anyway. I forgot you had your alarm set later than I actually needed. I go in at seven which means work starts in, like, thirty minutes. I gotta hurry." He spat out the minty foam and rinsed out his mouth before re-entering Sasuke's room. He stopped and sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, you got any clothes I can borrow? I'm still in yesterday's clothes. You can give me something old and ratty, factory work don't call for nothin' fancy."

"I don't own any 'ratty' clothes, Naruto." Sasuke said, rather snotty. "I do, however, own some clothes I haven't worn in a while and don't particularily care if they get ruined." He crossed the room and entered his walk-in closet, returning with a folded outfit that he handed to the blond.

Naruto dressed hurridely, frowning as he tugged on, and attempted to jump into, the jeans. "Damn, these are tight." He complained, dropping to the floor and wiggling into them, back arched. Finally, he managed to squeeze into them. He stood in front of Sasuke's vanity, observing his ass. "I look like a girl from the back and you can clearly see my bulge from the front. You got anything for dudes to wear?"

Sasuke shrugged, smirking. "They look good on you."

"Come on, man, I'm bein' serious! These are as tight as Sakura's jeans!" He slid a navy blue V-neck shirt on and cringed. "Oh my fucking God, Sasuke. I can't believe it took me this long to figure out that you're gay!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, hiding the fact that he had actually forgotten about last night and was now inwardly panicking. Did it really feel that natural to wake up next to Naruto? "You didn't even figure it out after this long, moron. I had to tell you."

"More like show me." Naruto said, brushing past him into the hallway.

Sasuke stared after him, confused and hurt. His heart beat quickened as he wondered if the 'bad dream' was a cover-up for the fact that he was angry with Sasuke for his advances. He followed after him and watched him chug a glass of water in his kitchen.

"Hey, Naruto." He said hesitantly. "We should talk about what happened last night."

"No time." He said, setting the glass into the sink and making his way to the door where he began tugging on his boots.

Sasuke sighed, joining him in the doorway to pull on his converse. "Can you at least tell me if you're disgusted with me?"

"I'm not. I told you, I don't care if your gay. I'm gonna make tons of jokes at your expense now that I know, though." He finished lacing up his boots and turned towards the door. "Fuck! Do you have a baseball cap I can borrow? There's no time for me to stop by the apartment for mine."

"Yeah, hold on." Sasuke darted down the hall and frowned to himself as he found an old baseball cap he recieved for free at some college event. He actually hoped that Naruto would ruin it because, honestly, the thing was so ugly. Sasuke thought baseball caps were the worst.

When he rejoined Naruto by the door, he placed the hat on top of his head, letting it lightly balance there. Instead of laughing or throwing a fit, Naruto just pushed it down and mumbled a 'thanks'. Sasuke frowned as he followed the blond into his garage where he unlocked the viper and slid into the driver's seat, Naruto promptly joining him.

The drive was silent. Too silent. Sasuke stole glances of Naruto every once in a while and noticed he was looking particularily weary and staring out of the window. The raven sighed and turned down his music.

"I'll pick you up from work tonight. I'm not going into the office today, I'm just going to work from home."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Talk to me about what's bothering you tonight. You never keep things from me, don't start now. You know I'm willing to help."

"Maybe."

"What do you mean 'maybe'?" Sasuke looked offended. "Naruto, I know you. You never act like this unless it's something bad. Why are you afraid to talk to me all of a sudden? I know this can't all be because of a nightmare and I'm just trying to help."

"There are some things I just don't want to talk to you about. I don't have to tell you every little thing, ya know."

"You know all of my secrets. You're the only one who does. Not even Kakashi knows everything. I thought that was reciprocated. That's how it's always been, Naruto. We're the only people who can handle each other's dark sides, right?"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, but it's like I said...there are some things I just don't want to tell you." He un-clicked his seat belt as Sasuke parked the car in front of his factory.

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked, gripping the steering wheel a little too hard. "Fine. You're right. It's none of my business. Good luck with whatevers going on."

"Thanks." Naruto stepped out of the car, a group of younger men whistling as they approached him.

Sasuke scowled as they practically O-faced over his viper. As if they've never seen a nice car before. How annoying.

"Hey!" Said one of the men, crouching down to greet Sasuke through the open passenger-side door. "Nice ride, dude! You Whiskers' friend?" He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and placed one between his lips.

"Whiskers?" Sasuke asked, glancing at Naruto as he blushed and punched a guy in the arm for teasing him about the crazy tight pants he was currently sporting.

"Yeah, that's what we call Naruto here." He paused to light his cigarette. "All the guys got nicknames."

"Charming."

The man laughed and patted the top of the car. "Well, it was nice meetin' ya. I'm always curious about what kinda friends that guy has outside of this place. He's a wild one, definitely didn't picture him bein' friends with a guy like you." He laughed again as he closed the door and joined the rest of the group, jumping into the fun of laughing at Naruto's outfit.

"Out too late at the gar bar, Whiskers?" One of them asked, tugging down on the bill of Naruto's baseball cap.

"Don't make fun of 'em! Being gay isn't a choice, dude!" Another man exclaimed, mockingly, before bursting into laughter.

"Hey, I think his fag pants are nice." A brunett with a sideways snap-back said, snickering.

"I ain't a fag! Shut up!" Naruto said bitterly before storming away.

The group of guys looked back towards Sasuke's viper and began talking and laughing amongst themselves. He scowled as he backed out of his parking space and sped away. He was feeling offended by the way Naruto had completely brushed him off and he was also frustrated with the nickname his co-workers had given him. It was an odd mix of emotions. He was pissed at Naruto but at the same time, he wanted to deck those guys in the face for teasing him.

And then he thought about what Naruto had said in retaliation to the teasing.

 _I ain't a fag!_

Did Naruto think being gay was a bad thing? Why was he so insulted when his co-workers had called him gay? He had said that he didn't care if Sasuke was, so why was he viewing it as a negative thing? Was he only sparing Sasuke's feelings? Did he value Sasuke's friendship enough to overlook something he secretly found disgusting?

But, the night before, he had told Sasuke that he made him curious. What did that mean? Sasuke shook the thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on it. After all, he was an Uchiha. Uchiha's were meant to stay cool and collected. He shouldn't be getting so flustered over a romantic interest, that just wasn't like him.

But, damn, his heart was aching so badly.

* * *

This was pretty much the worst day ever. Naruto sighed dramatically as he explained for probably the hundreth time that day why his pants were so embarrassingly tight.

"So, let me get this straight," Said Shikamaru, dropping a fifty-pound bag of fertilzer onto a pallet, "You spent the night with Sasuke, in his bed, and then changed into his clothes this morning. All after he makes out with you under the influence of alcohol."

"Yeah." Naruto said irritably. He grabbed a bag off of the conveyer belt and threw it down beside Shikamaru's, straighting it out with his foot. "But keep this between us. If Kiba finds out, he'll flip and I'll never live it down. And neither will Sasuke."

"From what you've told me, and from what I've observed on my own, it sounds like Sasuke was serious about liking you."

"I don't know, Shika. I mean, I guess I should have noticed he was gay by now, but I think maybe he just made out with me 'cause he was drunk and horny."

"No. I think he really does have feelings for you. So what are you going to do about it?" He yawned as he grabbed the next bag. They were running a product that went through a very thin screen, meaning that the material was thin and dusty, which causes things to move much slower than usual.

"I don't know. I'm still in shock, I think." He said, mimicking Shikamaru's yawn. Of all the days to go by insanely slowly, it had to be the one day he really just wanted to get over with.

"Well, how do you feel about him?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"He's got you confused, doesn't he?"

"Shut up." Naruto growled, throwing down a bag much harder than he really needed to.

"Break time, guys!" Their supervisor yelled from his office. Naruto immediately pulled his latex gloves off and tossed them in the trash, rushing towards the coat rack with Shikamaru taking his sweet time behind him.

The whole crew took their usual seats at a picnic table outside of their plant. On any other day, they'd be complaining about whatever material they were running or how nothing ever worked properly around the damn place. But, not today. Today, they were too busy harrassing Naruto for any of that.

"You gotta tell us," The brunet with the side-ways snapback said. "Who was that guy who dropped you off?"

Shikamaru smirked as he pulled out a cigarette, covering it with one hand to block the wind as he lit it. Naruto buried his face in his hands next to him and Shikamaru decided to take pity on him, just this once. "He's an old friend of ours. We all go way back. You've probably heard of him, Sasuke Uchiha."

"No fuckin' way, dude!" A bearded ginger perked up. "He's the heir of Uchiha Corps.! That guy's got to be one of the richest men alive! No way in hell that was really him!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Did you see his car? How many people do you know around here that drive a Viper?"

"Jesus Christ." The brunet said, wide-eyed. "Whiskers, you're friends with Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yeah." He sighed, thankful to Shikamaru for diverting their attention to Sasuke. "He's been my best friend since we were five. I crashed at his place last night 'cause I didn't have Gamakichi and he ended up gettin' wasted. He let me borrow some of his old college clothes. He's always had a lot of money so his clothes were always really in style or whatever. So, that's why they're so tight and gay looking. Make fun all you want, but he had every girl he came across creaming their panties over him."

"And you never thought to mention you were best friends with Sasuke fucking Uchiha?" The redhead asked. "That's insane."

Naruto shrugged. "Sometimes I forget he's such a big deal. Like, when he goes to work it's just like 'Oh, Sasuke's going into the office to do boring stuff' and it just seems really normal. Besides, I've known him forever, so I'm used to it all I guess."

"Jesus fuck." The brunet shook his head. "How'd a scrub like you end up bein' friends with a guy like him?"

Naruto smirked. "He made fun of my scars back in kindergarten so I punched him in the face. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but somehow after that we became friends."

"You guys seem like polar opposites though. How the hell does that work out?" The ginger asked, taking a swig of his RedBull.

"'Cause we balance each other out." Naruto shrugged.

"Balance each other out, huh?" The brunet asked. "That sounds pretty gay, dude."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Shut up, man. It's not like that." He stared down at his lap, frowing, and snatched up the pack of cigarettes Shikamaru had sitting in front of him. "I'm bummin' one of these off ya." He pulled one out and placed it between his lips.

"Woah, seriously? You hardly ever smoke." Shikamaru frowned. Maybe his friend was going through a harder time than he thought.

Naruto responded by lighting the cigarette and taking a long drag. He exhaled and slumped down in his seat, resting his head on his hand. Today really sucked.

* * *

There was no point in trying to work. Sasuke slumped down in his seat, burying his face in his hands. He'd been sitting at his laptop for more than two hours and only managed to reply to a couple emails, trying to focus on anything else had proven to be futile. With a heavy sigh, he stood from his seat and ventured into the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

If he couldn't focus on work, than he might as well do something productive with his day. And, he refused to mope around the house all day because of one stupid incident. Besides, it would all be okay in the end. It had to be. This was Naruto, after all. The blond could bounce back from anything, and if there was one thing he'd protect at all costs, it was their friendship.

He opened his basement door and decended down the steps, into his own personal gym. Sasuke was a simple man and prefered to keep his home fairly modest, despite his bank account balance. But, the one thing he indulged in was this gym. Well, and his cars, of course. The walls were painted a navy blue, a large Uchiha crest stamped on the back wall. On one side of the room there was cardiovascular equiment, and on the other, weight-lifting equipment.

Only the top brands and highest quality equipment could be found here. He had everything a person could possibly need, including a dojo complete with martial arts weapons. In a corner of the room, a rack of Katanas were displayed proudly as a family heirloom. It was said that his great-great-grandfather, Madara Uchiha, had mastered the Katana and had even won many awards for his skills.

He pulled his shirt off and threw it to the side, immediately approaching the bench-press in the center of the room. He had noticed recently that Naruto had been bulking up quite a bit, which shouldn't have been much of a surprise considering how often the blond spent his evenings in this gym. Sasuke frowned as he imagined the possibility of Naruto surpassing him in body sculpting.

After all, rivalry never dies. Not even if you've fallen for your rival.

He pulled the bar off of it's holder and noticed, with mild annoyance, that a few extra pounds had been added. What the fuck, Naruto? Sasuke's goal was not to gain an immense amount of muscle mass, he didn't want to be bulky. He did, however, take pride in his slim, toned figure. His abdominal muscles were defined and his biceps were particularily sculpted. Naruto had always been scrawnier than himself, and he'd like to keep it that way.

Although, at this rate, they'd end up hulk sized with their competitive tendencies.

When his arms began to shake, he switched to the cardio side of the gym and ran four miles on the treadmil. He spent the rest of his day working out until he glanced at the clock and noticed it was almost time to pick Naruto up from work. He grabbed a towel and dabbed away the sweat on his face, neck, and chest before heading up for a shower.

Just as he began primping his hair, his cell-phone buzzed urgently in his pocket. He frowned down at the screen as he read Iruka's name and wondered what he could possibly want. He rarely contacted Sasuke and when he did, it was usually an emergency. He slid the green icon and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Iruka." He said, expertly masking his concern.

 _"Sasuke, is Naruto with you?"_ He sounded strained, causing the raven's frown to deepen.

"No. He's at work. I'm actually getting ready to pick him up, though. Would you like me to have him contact you when he gets home?"

 _"Please. I need him to get a hold of him as soon as he can."_

"Is everything okay?" Now Sasuke really was worried.

 _"Just...just make sure he calls me, please."_

"Of course." Sasuke said, scratching the back of his head. Just what in the hell was going on with Naruto lately?

 _"Thank you."_ He hung up before Sasuke could reply.

He ran a hand through his hair and shoved the phone back into his pocket. With furrowed eyebrows, and new feeling of discontent tugging at his lips, he grabbed his keys from the bar and left his house.

He couldn't shake this feeling that something was really wrong. A sickness turned in his gut and he had begun to feel a little light-headed. As he drove towards Naruto's factory, he had made the decision that whether the blond liked it or not, he was going to tell him what was happening. Because, there was no way in hell he was going to let Naruto go through this alone. Not after everything he'd done for Sasuke.

It was his turn to step up and help his friend in his time of need.

* * *

The day was finally over. Naruto sighed with relief as he joined his exhausted co-workers in their walk towards the parking lot. The night was slightly chilly and the skies were clear, stars sparkling proudly on display. He walked through the grass towards Sasuke's viper, which was parked up front and vibrating slightly from the subs in the back.

He opened the door tiredly, and slid into the passenger seat where he buckled himself in and promptly slumped over and rubbed his face. "Fuck, I'm so glad this day is over with." He said, scratching underneath his baseball cap. Fertilizer dust was itchy as fuck. "I need to shower and then I'm passin' the fuck out."

"You need to call Iruka first. He called me, looking for you. Said it was urgent." said Sasuke, glancing at his rear-view mirror as he backed out of his parking space.

"M'kay." Naruto yanked his phone out of the snug pocket that offered an absurdly small amount of space. He unlocked it and took it out of airplane mode. Within a few seconds, it began buzzing like crazy, alerting him of twelve missed calls and three text messages. "Uh-oh." he said, biting his lip. "This don't look good..."

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, glancing at Naruto's worried face.

"He's been blowin' up my phone all day. I kinda feel bad, ya know. Shoulda checked it on one of my breaks. He's probably freakin' out. I better call him now." He touched the call icon and put the phone to his ears.

One ring, two, three, four...

Yeah, he wasn't going to answer.

Naruto squeezed the phone back into his pocket and leaned back against his seat. "He's probably busy or somethin'. I'll just wait for him to call me back."

"Naruto..." Sasuke started, feeling a little awkward. "Is there something going on that I don't know about?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, building the tension between them. When he finally spoke up, his voice was quiet and distant. "It's nothin'. You don't gotta worry 'bout it. But, I don't really know what Iruka wants. I hope it's nothin' serious though." He pulled down on the bill of his hat, the majority of his face covered, and crossed his arms.

"Hn." Sasuke held his tongue. He didn't want to keep pestering the blond about it. He knew that when Naruto was ready, he would talk to him. He just had to be patient.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not tryin' to brush you off or anything. I know I've been kind of a dick today...we'll talk about what happened when I'm ready, kay?" He pulled his hat off and sat it on his lap, ruffling his hair to make it stick up again.

"It's fine. I shouldn't have been so pushy this morning. I'm not usually like that, I suppose I was only worried. But, you have to understand that the way I came out to you wasn't how I had planned to do so."

"Yeah, I figured. You're a different person when you drink." Naruto said, staring out the window, admiring the soft glow of the stars against the buildings.

"Hn."

Fifteen awkward minutes later, they had arrived at Naruto's apartment complex. Sasuke decided to come inside since he was worried about what Iruka had to tell him and he wanted to be there for the phone call. Naruto didn't object, they usually hung out after work anyway and, truth be told, he liked having the company.

Sasuke went straight for the fridge, his growling stomach reminding him that he'd barely eaten. He scanned the contents for a minute or so until he spotted a package of tomatoes. He grabbed one and rinsed it off in the sink before indulging.

"I hope you weren't planning on using these tomatoes for anything." He said, smirking. "I'm starving and this is the only non-junk food you have."

"S'fine." Naruto shrugged, grabbing a can of Coke out for himself. "I don't really like tomatoes anyway."

"Then why did you buy them? Idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes, taking another bite.

"Because they're your favorite and you come over a lot and you don't like the same food as me. I like to make sure I have stuff that you like too." Sasuke's eyes widened a bit at that. "Welp, I'm gonna get in the shower. You can start up the PS3 if you want." He set his pop down and disappeared down the hall.

Sasuke sighed, and after finishing his tomato, plopped down on the sofa. He grabbed the playstation controller off of the coffee table and started up the system. The 'start' screen for Street Fighter Four came on and the iconic music started playing. He selected the battle mode and played a few rounds before Naruto entered the room, wearing frog themed pajama pants and a plain white T-shirt.

The blond watched Sasuke play, throwing in a comment or two when Sasuke used a particularily impressive combo. He'd never admit it, but he'd always been jealous of Sasuke's gaming skills. Outwardly, though, he'd claim they were even and that Sasuke was a dirty cheater.

 _Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!_

Naruto shot up from the sofa and darted towards his kitchen counter, where his cellphone was vibrating and scooting along. As it came dangerously close to falling off of the counter, he swiped it up and answered the call.

"Yo."

 _"Naruto! Oh thank God! You're okay..."_ The brunet sounded exhausted.

"Um. Yeah? What's up? Sasuke said you had somthin' urgent to tell me." He reached for his Coke and took a sip, leaning against the counter. Sasuke paused the game and joined him in the kitchen.

 _"They've been released. Naruto...someone paid their bail..."_

Naruto froze, eyes widening in horror. The can of pop slid from his grasp and exploded on the floor.

"W-what?" His breathing became labored, his chest rising and falling at a quickening pace. "W-who would...? No...fuck! Fuck!"

"Naruto, what's going on? What is it?" Sasuke asked, eyebrows furrowed with worry.

 _"I-I don't know. I don't know who would've done it. Whoever they were, they can't be good people. But, listen to me, you need to be careful. Don't go anywhere alone. In fact, I think you should come stay with me for a while. No, wait, that may be worse since this town is where...can you stay with Sasuke? Look, I'm just really worried."_

Naruto had only heard about half of what he said. He fixed his gaze on the fizzling soda that was splattered across the kitchen tile. Suddenly it appeared more red than brown. His breathing quickened again, inhaling and exhaling sharply, but never feeling satisfied with his air intake.

 _"Naruto? Are you listening to me? This is important!"_

This couldn't be happening. No, this had to be false. There was just no way...

"Hey." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm. "Are you okay? You look pale and you're breathing heavily...you need to calm down."

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down!" Naruto yelled, squeezing the phone in his hand. He winced and clutched his chest, continuing to breath laborously.

Sasuke pryed the cellphone from the blond's hands. "Iruka? Naruto's hyperventilating. I'll have him call you back later. I need to get him to control his breathing." He hung up on him and set the phone aside.

He stepped behind Naruto, pressing his chest against his back and placing a hand on his chest. "Match my breathing." He said, breathing calmly into his ear. "Just relax."

Naruto barely heard him. His chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Naruto. Focus on my breathing." He put a little space between them, thinking that maybe Naruto needed a little room. He rubbed his back soothingly, continuing to breathe in his ear.

Slowly, Naruto's breathing became more natural. He focused on the circular motion of Sasuke's hand against his back and listened to his breathing. When he finally seemed to have calmed down, Sasuke stepped away from him.

"Okay. What's going on?" He asked, frowning.

"Nothing." Naruto snapped, running a hand through his hair.

"Obviously it's not 'nothing' if it's enough to cause a panic attack." Sasuke stated, narrowing his eyes. "Talk to me."

"Just fuck off, Sasuke. I don't need to tell you everything, now just leave me alone!" Naruto turned away from him and attempted to enter the hallway.

Sasuke grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Talk." He demanded. "Now."

"Let me go, asshole!" Naruto wrenched him arm from Sasuke's grasp and walked off.

Sasuke followed him into the hallway and forced him back around. "What's up with you? Why won't you let me help?"

"Because you can't fucking help me! Just leave me alone! I don't want to talk about it and I don't want you to know about it. Just go home and drink yourself to sleep again."

Sasuke's face turned red. The rage inside of him fueled his fist into the side of Naruto's face. The blond stumbled backwards and caught his footing, charging foward to tackle Sasuke to the floor. He straddled his waist and, blinded with rage, threw punches into the raven's face.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shoulders and forced him backwards, reversing their positions as he now stradled the blond and pinned him by the wrists. Naruto fought against it, squirming beneath him and pushing his arms upwards in an attempt to overtake the raven. But, to no avail.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Sasuke asked, his face mere inches from the blond's. He narrowed his eyes as Naruto deliberately looked away. He had stopped trying to fight back and now just accepted his fate.

"'Cause I don't have to." He said, childishly.

"This isn't like you, Naruto. Just tell me what this is about so I-"

"Forget it! I'm not talkin'!" Naruto yelled back, glaring darkly.

"Fine! Have it your way. I've told you things I've never told anyone, things I don't even want to remember, myself. I don't open up to people so easily. I thought you were the one person I could trust and would trust me in return. But apparently-"

"You want to know what this is about that badly? Huh? Do you really want to fuckin' know, Sasuke? Well, here it goes! I'll fuckin' tell you! I lied. Okay. I fuckin' lied to you this whole time. I do remember where I got the scars. It's the clearest memory I have. When we were fourteen, and my foster parents were arrested, and Iruka took me in, it wasn't just because they were neglectin' me. Yeah, that was part of it. But do you want to know the truth?"

"The truth?" Sasuke blinked at him, he loosened his grip and sat back.

Naruto sighed, his breath shaky. "They locked me in a fuckin' cage. Every night. These scars?" He laughed darkly. "That bitch carved them into me when I was five. With some old nasty fuckin' butcher knife. They beat me, they starved me, and..." He trailed off, staring blankly off to the side.

Sasuke's eyes widened, his jaw dropped. He got off of the blond and sat next to him, leaning against the wall. Naruto sat up, as well, coming up beside him.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said quietly, in partial shock. "Why didn't you tell me this happened to you?"

"'Cause it's embarrasing." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"How is that embarrasing?" Sasuke asked, concern in his voice. "Those people are sick."

"Someone made their bail." Naruto said, his voice hollow. "They're going to come for me. It's my fault they got locked up. They're going to want their revenge. Even Iruka knows it."

"I won't let them touch you." Sasuke growled.

"What if they find me? What am I 'sposed to do? I can't live in fear for the rest of my life." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I can hire a body gaurd for you. Or you can move in with me so you'll never be alone. We'll figure something out." Sasuke watched as a tears streamed from Naruto's eyes, slipping down his cheeks and dripping from his chin. He sighed, feeling uncomfortable. How did normal people comfort others in situations like this?

Hesitantly, he wrapped an arm around the blond and pulled him close, letting Naruto rest his head on his shoulder. He squeezed him lightly, and gently massaged his shoulder. "It'll be okay." He said, confidently. "I will make sure justice is done and there's no way in hell I'll let them anywhere near you."

Naruto shut his eyes and focused on the comforting way that Sasuke's hand kneaded him. He inhaled the scent of Sasuke's cologne and relaxed considerably. In this moment, he seriously thought that maybe everything would end up okay.

As long as he had Sasuke, he'd be safe.


	5. Plans

**A/N: SO I JUST NOW NOTICED THAT UP UNTIL THIS POINT, ALL OF MY CHAPTERS WERE FUCKED UP. Like, I've had this fic up for months...and...I JUST NOW noticed that all of my previous chapters did not have divider thingies between each scene change. They were not broken up into sections. Oh. My. God. OhmyGod. I guess when I uploaded the file, it for some reason I can't imagine, took out my little line things I had seperating each scene. But, the problem is fixed now. I just...*slams head on desk*SLKFJSLJFLS you have no idea how mad I was.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Kishi created the characters, I borrowed them. Also, as always, I didn't make up, nor do I own, any and all brand names/musicians and songs mentioned.**

 **WARNING: The usual. You know what's up by now.**

* * *

When Naruto's alarm clock broke the silence in his bedroom, and he jolted awake, he found himself pressed against Sasuke's back. He rubbed his eyes, taking in the sight of the raven who seemed to be completely unaffected by the shrill noise. He frowned, thinking of how this was the second day in a row he had woken up in bed next to him. His frown deepened when he realized it didn't even bother him. He didn't even feel weird about it. He sighed quietly and slipped out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Naruto jumped a foot in the air before turning to find Sasuke sitting up in bed, running a hand through his hair. "So, you are awake. You faker." He laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. "Thanks for stayin' with me last night. You can chill here as long as you want while I'm at...oh wait, I almost forgot I still don't got Gamakichi back yet." He frowned, scratching the bridge of his nose. "Mind givin' me a ride again?"

"You're not going to work today, idiot. You're calling off." The raven spoke cooly, tossing the covers off of himself and standing up. He walked towards the bedroom door and paused. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Uh. I can't call off, Sasuke. I got bills to pay and a car in the shop, ya know." He lifted himself from the bed and joined Sasuke in the doorway. "Besides, I need the distraction."

"It wasn't a suggestion, Naruto. Go call your supervisor and inform him that you've had a family emergency and that you'll be back tomorrow." He turned away and headed down the hall, turning into the bathroom. He shut the door on Naruto, who had been following him, and relieved himself.

"Come on, Sasuke! I can't afford to call off! Why do you want me to so bad, anyway?" Naruto whined, bursting into the room when he heard the faucet turn on.

"I'll compensate you for the hours you missed. What do they pay you per day? Two hundred?" He turned the faucet off and grabbed the hand towel from the rack above the toilet and dried himself off.

"Two hundred?! Jesus, I wish." Naruto grumbled, following Sasuke to the kitchen. "But, no way am I gonna let you pay me to miss work. You know I hate hand-outs. And, seriously, why do you want me to call off?"

Sasuke blinked at him. "I don't understand why you stay at that shitty dead-end job. You have a degree." He shook his head, sighing. "Not even two-hundred dollars a day...ridiculous." He turned away and opened the fridge, pulling out a carton of eggs and a jug of milk. "I'm telling you to call off because after you're done speaking with your supervisor, you're going to call Iruka and have him come up here so we can discuss what we're going to do about this situation you're in."

Naruto came up beside him and leaned against the counter. "You're really takin' this seriously, aren't ya?" He smiled when Sasuke nodded. "Okay, fine. You're right actually, we really should talk to Iruka about this. Is been a while since I've seen him anyway, and after yesterday I think it would be a good time for a visit."

"Exactly." Sasuke said, diving back into the fridge to fish out some vegetables and cheese. "This could be serious and I want to know exactly what Iruka thinks about all of this. He seemed very concerned about it and I want to know his reasoning for such a serious reaction."

"Yeah. I just hope this ends up being nothin'. Maybe they got ass-raped enough times that they're so afraid of going back that they won't try nothin'."

"Charming. For the record, it's 'won't try _anything_ '. But yes, I hope that is the case as well. Prison is rumored to be a very unpleasant place, so there's always the possibility of them wanting to stay out of trouble from now on." He bent down, rummaging through the cabinets for the skillet.

"Tch." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Grammar nazi. But, yeah, maybe they're afraid of going back. Plus I'm a lot bigger now, I could probably take them." His lifted this arms, flexing his biceps as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'm glad to see you're much more confident than you were last night." Sasuke said, tapping an egg against the side of the counter.

"Hey, don't judge. It caught me by surprise, ya know! Plus, I was tired and..."

"Naruto." Sasuke said, placing a hand on the blond's arm. "It's okay. Your reaction was completely justified. I wasn't mocking you, I'm genuinely happy that you're feeling a little more confident. Just don't get too confident, this shouldn't be taken lightly and I expect you to take all of the necessary precautions."

"Yeah, I know. Trust me, I'm still takin' this seriously. I guess I'm just tryin' to make myself feel better is all." He frowned, playing with the drawstrings on his sweatpants.

"Hey." Sasuke said, gently. "I promise I'll be here the whole time to make sure you're safe. I won't let anything happen to you."

Naruto smiled crookedly at him. "Thanks." He said, pushing away from the counter. "I guess I'll go make those calls now. By the way, what are ya makin'?"

"Yes, go do that. And, I'm making omlettes. You'll like it, I promise."

"Awesome. Well, see you in a bit."

Sasuke watched as Naruto dissappeared down the hall before adding all of the necessary ingrediants into a mixing bowl. He stired the contents together distractedly as he recounted everything Naruto had told him the night before. As confident as the raven acted, he was probably just as worried as Naruto was. Maybe even more so.

* * *

They were expecting Iruka in about an hour, so after they finished breakfast, which Naruto conned Sasuke into making more of, they decided on cleaning the apartment to keep busy. It had been months since the brunet's last visit and he never failed to comment on Naruto's lack of organization and cleanliness.

"You really should do a little cleaning on a daily basis." Sasuke scolded as he collected dirty socks that were scattered around the living room in, what he thought to be, the most absurd places. "That way it won't get so bad. A little at a time is more manageable than cleaning up a huge disgusting mess at the last minute every time you're expecting a guest."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, sliding some magazines beneath the couch with his foot. "Yeah, but I hate cleaning."

"Obviously. And you better pick those magazines back up. How old are you?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the other as he scurried away from the crime scene. He made his way to the hall closet and pulled out a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels. He re-entered the living room and started wiping down all of the surfaces.

"So," Sasuke began, organizing the heap of video games and wires that surrounded the television. "These people...I feel like I don't know as much about them as I thought I had. Well, I suppose that truly is the case. From what I had understood, they were alcoholics. Was there more to it than that?"

Naruto tensed, the paper towel crumpling in his grasp. "Well, I didn't really understand what was goin' on when I was little. But, the older I got, the more stuff I picked up on, ya know. I found out later on that they were actually drug-addicts. And, well, they dealed drugs too. Guess that explains why they were so fuckin' insane and messed up all the time." He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "My foster mom...she always wanted a pet fox." His eyes became distant, focussing on the candle they had lit on the coffee table.

Sasuke nodded, unsure of what he should say. He watched as Naruto shook his head and moved to the kitchen, where he disposed of the used paper towels. It seemed unreal to him that he had known Naruto for so many years, practically their whole lives, and yet there was a whole mess of things he didn't know about the blond. How could he not have read the signs?

When they were entering middle school, around eleven years old, Sasuke had finally asked him about his home life. He knew something was wrong, but he never imagined it had been the Hell that Naruto described last night. Naruto had somewhat brushed him off, saying his foster parents weren't around much and hadn't really provided him with everything he needed. He let on that he was neglected and nothing else. In fact, Naruto had pretended it hadn't even bothered him much.

Sasuke frowned deeply, wondering how anyone could go through all of that and carry on as if everything had been normal. When Sasuke had first met Naruto, the blond was hyperactive and aggressive. He was always getting into fights with other students, arguments with the teachers, and pulling pranks. The neglect had explained his need for attention. It also explained why the blond wore the same few outfits repeatedly, was often dirty looking, and had been rather scrawny up until high school.

So, Sasuke had accepted Naruto's explanation. It made sense. But, now, he couldn't help but feel guilty for believing him. If he had refused to believe him and demanded to know the actual truth, could he have done something about it? Could he have told an adult and gotten Naruto out of that house much sooner?

Well, worrying about the past wouldn't benefit anybody. The present conflict was much more pressing and demanded his attention instead. After all, you can't change the past, but, you do have a little control over the future. Right?

The atmosphere had grown tense, leaving the two of them to clean in silence until Iruka arrived. At the sound of the knocking, Naruto scrambled around, hiding the cleaning products in the hall closet before running to the door and letting the man in.

"Naruto..."

Iruka pulled him into a hug almost immediatly. He held him tightly in the doorway, a hand pressed to the back of Naruto's head. When he finally broke the embrace, he followed Naruto into the living room, sitting beside him on the couch.

"S'been a while, huh?" Naruto smiled crookedly at the brunet.

"Too long." Iruka agreed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. You just caught me off gaurd last night, but I've calmed down." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Iruka cocked an eyebrow and turned to Sasuke, who was leaning against the armrest. "Is the brat lying to me?" He asked.

"I don't think he's 'fine' exactly, but, he really has calmed down quite a bit since last night."

Iruka nodded, returning his attention to Naruto. "You're lucky to have him around."

"Yeah, I know." Naruto smiled.

"Iruka." Sasuke interjected. "How serious would you say this situation is?"

The brunet began fidgeting with the excess material of his jeans, avoiding Naruto's eyes. "I'd say it's potentially very serious."

"But why?" Naruto asked, turning until he was face to face with Iruka. "Maybe they won't do anything. It's been a long time, ya know."

The brunet sighed, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes flickered to Sasuke for a moment and back to Naruto's. "Do you remember the day the police showed up at your house? I went downstairs to get you while those people were hauled away in handcuffs?"

"Well, duh." Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "Kind of a major day for me. Course I remember."

"Don't you remember what they said? They were screaming at the police...saying that if they ever got out they'd come for you?"

"Yeah. I remember."

"These people...they're dangerous. They have connections and they're sick in the head. Not a good combination." Iruka's voice was deep and serious. A tone that Naruto hadn't heard in a very long time. Sasuke, hadn't even realized the man was capable of it.

"Still, we don't know if they're still mad about it. Like I said, it's been a really long time since then." Naruto argued, playing with the bottom of his shirt as spoke.

"Iruka is correct in thinking we should play it safe, Naruto." Sasuke said, capturing Naruto's gaze.

"This shouldn't be taken lightly." Iruka agreed. "We're worried about you."

Sasuke nodded, the blond frowning. It seemed as though Naruto were trying to put on a brave face. No, that wasn't it. He was in denial. He had let out all of his panic and worry the night before and now he was attempting to convince himself that he had over-reacted. He wanted to believe everything was fine.

"But, Iruka, how did you learn of their release? Are you even certain that this isn't simply a rumor?" Sasuke asked, his heart clinging to that last little bit of hope he had left. Maybe, a part of him was dealing with a sliver of denial as well.

"I'm certain." Iruka sighed. "My friend, Ibiki, is the head of interrogation at the station from our home town. The same station that was responsible for locking them up. He was the one who told me."

Sasuke frowned. Well, there goes that hope. "Could he possibly find out who made their bail?"

"I tried that. There isn't a way for him to do it. They won't disclose that information." Iruka rubbed his face tiredly before stealing a painful glance at Naruto who had suddenly become very quiet.

"It just doesn't make sense." Sasuke said, rubbing his chin. "Who would pay their bail after so many years? Who would care about people like them? Besides that, who the hell would have that kind of money?"

"They were in the drug scene remember?" Naruto reminded him, staring at his lap. "It coulda been some asshole who spent all this time raising money to get them out."

"Unlikely." Sasuke said. " Those types of people are pretty selfish and what could they possibly need from them? Besides, I highly doubt any big time drug dealers would be brave enough to walk into a police department and pay the bail of their former partners."

"I've thought about both points." Iruka chimed in. "Honestly, there's no way to tell. If they were good at what they did and it was benificial to everyone beneath them in the oporation, then maybe they were worth bailing out. But, it's as Sasuke said, you'd have to be pretty brave, and pretty stupid, to do it. But, who else could've paid it? Their bail was enormous, it would have to be someone very wealthy. They did seem to have a lot of connections, though. Maybe they were working with someone big and important?"

"Hm." Sasuke seemed thoughtful. He fixed his gaze on the hardwood floor, frowning slightly as the half-assed job Naruto had done of sweeping it. It was as Iruka had said, though, there was no way to tell who could've paid it. And, right now, that wasn't as important as figuring out a way to keep Naruto safe. "Let's not worry about that right now. First, we should think of a way to protect him."

"I agree." Iruka nodded. "I don't think he should be going anywhere alone. If they are really planning on revenge, they lived around this area for a very long time and there's no telling who they know or what kind of connections they really have. There's a chance they'd be able to find him even though he's moved about an hour away. The used to commute to Chicago so they know this area as well. For all we know, they could've had business around here."

Naruto opened his mouth, about to argue. Sasuke held up a hand to silence him. "That's probably for the best. Naruto, you shouldn't go anywhere unnaccompanied. I think maybe it would even be a good idea for you to move in with me."

"I like that idea. I would feel much better about him staying with you." Iruka said, visibly relaxing at the thought.

"What? Oh, come on! You guys are blowing this way outta proportion! I doubt they'll find me here. And I like my apartment and I like my freedom! This is stupid!" He crossed his arms, pouting.

"Naruto." Sasuke said firmly. "You always complain about finances and you hate living alone. So, move in with me. I'll give you your space. You know damn well that I like my own, so that won't be a problem. But, I can't let you go anywhere alone. You'll have to be accompanied by a friend."

"I can handle myself!" Naruto said, standing from the couch. "Stop fussin' over me! I hate that."

Sasuke reached out, grabbing his wrist as he stood. "Please." He said, his eyes pleading. Naruto frowned, wrechning his wrist from the raven's grasp. "Naruto. We're fucking worried, okay? These people...we just want to make sure you're safe. So what if we're fussing over you? Get the fuck over it and swallow your pride."

"You're making a big deal out of it! I don't want you to do that! I don't want to burden you guys! I'll be fine, I-"

"Naruto." Iruka stood too, locking eyes with Naruto. "Don't do this for yourself then. Do it for us. We know you're strong and you can handle yourself. But, we're not as confident as you are. So, please, do this for us. I'm begging you, here. Help us put our minds at ease."

Naruto bit his bottom lip, glancing at Sasuke who nodded in agreement with Iruka, his expression dark. "Fine." He said through gritted teeth. "But, only until all of this blows over. If nothing happens after a month, just give it up."

"It may take a month for them to find you though-"

"That's my condition. I'm an adult too, Sasuke. I don't like be treated like I'm some little kid who needs to be protected."

Sasuke's jaw tightened. He wanted to argue. So badly. But, as much as he hated to admit it, Naruto had a point. He was an adult and no one could force him to do anything he didn't want to. He wasn't property, he was a person. "Okay. But, if we get word of anything suspicious, you'll continue to lay low and stay safe, won't you?"

"Well, yeah." Naruto shrugged. "If there's actual evidence that I'm in danger then of couse I'll be cautious or whatever. But if it doesn't seem like anything is happenin' then I'm not going to let you guys baby me."

"Fair enough." Iruka sighed. "You always have been a stubborn brat." He rubbed the back of his neck, frowning at the floor. "I just hope that you're right in thinking we're overreacting."

Naruto grinned that wide goofy grin he always did when he got his way. "Don't sweat it, guys. I'll go along with your stupid game but, you'll see, this is nothing. Everything's gonna be fine."

Sasuke and Iruka stared back at him, blinking. Was he really that far into denial? Or was he just an idiot? Maybe it was both.

* * *

It was well into the afternoon when Iruka had finally left. Naruto and Sasuke had argued for close to an hour after that. Sasuke had been insistant that Naruto start packing and come home with him that night. Naruto was reluctant but had eventually given in. He shoved his more important items into a few duffel bags and threw them, angrily, into the trunk of Sasuke's Viper.

They were in Sasuke's house now and had just finished the pizza they had devilivered. Sasuke paused the video game they had been playing and stood from the couch, collecting the trash and taking it into the kitchen where he disposed of it.

"So." He turned to Naruto. "Friday, we'll talk to your landlord and move the rest of your stuff over here. I can rent a storage unit for any excess things you won't be able to bring over."

"Yeah." Naruto said bitterly. He still didn't like this idea. It wasn't that he was upset about living with Sasuke, after all, they had been roommates in college and pretty much lived with each other as it was. But, he felt like a child and he hated that. He hated that everyone was so worried about him.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Sasuke asked, leaning against the island in the center of his kitchen. "You down for a few drinks?"

"Normally I'd lecture you about drinking all the time, but man I could really use a fuckin' drink right now." He sighed as he stood from the couch, joining Sasuke in the kitchen.

He watched as Sasuke rummaged through the cabinets, pulling out two short crystal glasses that were twisted at the bottom. They looked expensive, and Naruto cringed at the thought of accidentally breaking one. His jaw dropped when Sasuke opened the freezer. It was filled with alcohol bottles and most of them were almost empty.

"Jesus." Naruto said, shaking his head. "Sasuke, you-"

"We all have our own ways of coping Naruto. You with making bonds, me with alcohol. It's not a big deal." He brushed past him and began pouring liquor into the glasses. One glass was one/fourth alcohol and filled the rest of the way with Coke. The other, was filled to the brim with straight whiskey. He handed the one with mostly pop in it to Naruto.

The blond accepted it hesitantly, keeping his eyes on Sasuke's unreadable expression. The raven brushed past him again, entering the living room where he set the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table and plopped himself down on the couch. He looked at Naruto expectedly, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto joined him, pulling his legs up onto the cushion and facing him. He licked his lips nervously as he watched Sasuke tip his glass back, finishing half of it before resting it on his lap.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" He asked in a low tone.

"I'm coping." He said simply. "I thought you weren't going to lecture me tonight."

"Yeah but...It's just hard to watch you do this every night. Aren't you scared for your health?" He sipped his mixed drink, licking his upper lip as he waited for a response.

"I don't care about any of that, honestly. Besides, I'm not the one who's in immediate danger right now. But I don't want to talk about that anymore. Let's just forget our troubles for the night." He tipped back his glass again, finishing it off. He grabbed the bottle and filled it again.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. He'd lecture Sasuke later. But, for right now, he really did want to just push all the negative thoughts away.

"We need music." Sasuke murmured. He grabbed a remote from the coffee table and used it to turn on the stereo system. The radio crackled on, fuzzy and distant sounding, some catchy pop song desperately pushing through the static. He cringed and clicked a button that flipped it to the iPod setting. Jekyll and Hyde by Five Finger Death Punch started playing, he looked satisfied and set the remote down, returning to his drink.

For a while, the two of them sat in mostly silence. Half-assed singing along to the music and drinking away their troubles. Sasuke had downed five glasses within an hour and Naruto was nursing his third. The buzz was evident in Sasuke's cheeks as they dusted pink and his singing became slightly slurred. Naruto was starting to feel pretty good himself, his legs going numb and his brain becoming fuzzy.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto shifted his position so that he was face to face with the raven. There was something in the back of his mind that he just couldn't contain any longer. He thought bringing it up may be awkward, but, he was intoxicated enough that he didn't care anymore. "When did you realize you were gay?"

Sasuke seemed taken aback by the question. A small amount of surprise flickering across his face. "Well," He started, a little hesitantly. "I was twelve when I realized I wasn't interested in women. But, I didn't realize I was interested in men until I was fourteen. Before that, I just assumed I didn't like anyone at all in that type of way. Why the sudden curiousity?"

"Because. You've been gay for all these years and I had no idea. So, yeah, I'm fuckin' curious about it!" He laughed, taking another sip of his drink. "So, how did you find out you liked guys?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that."

"Yes I do. Come on, I spilled the beans about my past. It's your turn, asshole."

"Fine." Sasuke bit out. "The locker room. Johnny Depp movies. That summer Iruka installed a swimming pool...I was fourteen and I started noticing men in a different way. For the first time in my life, I actually felt physically attracted to people. And, women just didn't seem to catch my eye."

Naruto errupted into laughter. Suddenly he understood Sasuke's Pirates of the Carribean phase. Wait a minute. Did he mention Iruka's swimming pool? Oh, God. "Hey! You totally checked out my bod when we went swimming didn't you?!" He pointed a finger accusingly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, bringing his glass to his lips and tipping it back, swallowing the rest of it's contents. "I did." He smirked, pouring more whiskey for himself. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

Naruto had to think about that, actually. Did it? "I think I'm more flattered than creeped out, honestly." He frowned at his drink.

"Hn." Sasuke took Naruto's glass from his hands and topped it off before returning it to him.

"Thanks." Naruto mumbled, swirling the drink in his hands. "So," He perked up, his voice returning to it's previous state of curiousity. "Have you ever had a boyfriend? Did you ever bring him around and I just didn't know you were dating? Have you fucked a guy before?" Woah, where did that last one come from?

Sasuke's blush deepened, he looked away, fixing his gaze on the stereo across the room. "I've only dated one guy. I don't really find myself wanting a real relationship with others, except for-" He cleared his throat and took a drink of his whiskey. "So, to answer your third question, yes I have had sex with another man. That's normally all that happens with the guys I meet."

"Ah, so _that's_ what you do on the weekends when I invite the guys over for poker. So, like, are you a manwhore in the gay world? I guess even gay guys can be players. So who's the guy you dated? Do I know him? How long were you together?"

"Of course gay men can be players." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't consider myself as one, though. Remind me later to debunk all of your stereotypes about homosexuals. As for the man I was with, yes you do know him. No, I'm not going to tell you who he is. And we were together for a year before he broke up with me."

"Seriously? You're not gonna tell me? Bastard... Wait! _He_ broke up with _you_?!"

"It's not my place. Besides, he's engaged to a woman now. It's best to keep the past in the past. And yes, he was the one to break it off. Why does that surprise you?" He frowned at the wide-eyed blond.

"I wouldn't tell anyone, ya know." He mumbled. Sometimes it was really irritating how reserved Sasuke could be about giving out information. Although, at the same time, it was something he really respected about him. "And it's surprising because...well, I don't know. I can't imagine you as the dumpee. You seem like the kind of guy everyone would want to get with and try to hang on to as long as they could."

"I'm not some kind of prize, Naruto." His frown deepened. "People usually like me for shallow reasons, but once they get to know me they soon realize that I'm not worth anyone's time. He simply figured that out."

"What're you talkin' about? You have a good personality. I would know since I'm your best friend and all." He rolled his eyes, sipping his drink. It really irked him just how insecure Sasuke was. He almost felt as though he didn't have the right. He was perfect, wasn't he? The guy everyone wanted? The girls all wanted to date him and the guys all wanted to be his friend. He was cool, successful, and attractive. Everything Naruto wished he could be.

Sasuke just blinked at him for a moment before sighing. "Stop putting me on a pedestal. You know damn well there's plenty of reasons for a person not to like me. I come with a lot of baggage. Not everyone understands that the way you do. That's why I usually avoid relationships. You can see past my flaws because you understand them. To others...it's just too much to deal with. Not worth the trouble." His eyes became distant, absently sipping his whiskey.

"This guy you dated didn't even try to understand? I thought relationships were supposed to be about people loving you despite your flaws and working to understand them. So why did he break up with you exactly? You said you were together for a whole year so why did he end it after getting that far?"

"I believe you're right about that. It's all a matter of finding the right person, I think. He wasn't the 'one' I suppose, as corny as that sounds. As for the exact reason he broke it off...well. I'll just say that he wasn't ready to deal with my problems. The drinking, mostly. He also felt I wasn't interested in him enough. I was too distant, he said." He ran a hand through his hair before downing the rest of his beverage.

"I can understand the drinking thing. Not to sound like a dick, but if I were dating someone with a drinking problem I'd be really worried and I'd want them to stop. Like, with you, I really wish I could help you and I really want you to stop but...I don't know what to do about it. Guess I'm a pretty shitty friend if I can't help you." He looked away, his grip tightening on the glass in his hands. "As for the distant thing...that's just how you are. He should have respected that you like your space and you don't talk much. I guess it's a good thing you guys broke up if he didn't like that about you. You're supposed to accept a person just the way they are, right?"

"You...you're pretty okay with the idea of me being gay, aren't you?" Sasuke tilted his head at the blond, smiling crookedly. He hadn't expected Naruto to be so open about learning about his love life. His initial response wasn't so great, but that was to be expected. After all, they were twenty-four years old and he was just now finding out about his best friend's sexuality. But, then he remembered what Naruto had said about him making him curious. Although, he wasn't going to push it just yet. He'd let Naruto get to that on his own.

"Well, yeah." Naruto shrugged. "I told you I was cool with it. It doesn't bother me at all. Besides, I've known about Sai for years so I'm pretty used to the idea of two dudes being together. But, he doesn't really talk about it much. And he doesn't tell us about his relationships or anything like that. He says gay stuff sometimes but that's about it. Plus, he's with Ino now. I dunno, I guess I'm sort of curious...what's it like to date a guy? Isn't it really different?"

Sasuke scowled at the mention of Sai. "The fact that his relationship with her has lasted this long is quite the mystery." He murmured. "As for what it's like to date a guy, well, I suppose there are some differences. Obviously if there are people who have a preference for dating soley men, there must be a reason. As far as the aspect of the relationship itself, I'd say it's no different than any other relationship. It requires all of the same things; trust, respect, attraction, affection, sex, love...it's all the same."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But, doesn't one of them have to be the girl in the relationship?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. "In some cases, I suppose. It depends on the couple because everyone has a different prefference. Some homosexual men have more feminine traits than others and some men find that attractive, which leads to relationships where there is a 'top' and a 'bottom'. Or, dominant and submissive types. But in other cases, both can be feminine or both can be masculine. In which case, the partners usually take turns being the dominant one. It all depends on the individual and what they look for in a partner. Whereas, straight couples normally stick to a dominate man and a submissive woman."

Naruto seemed thoughtful for a moment. He stared into his glass, swirling the contents. "So, what's your prefference?"

Sasuke smirked at him, amused by his curiousity. "Well, I'd have to say I've always preffered a relationshp in which we're both the masculine types. That's what I find attractive in a man, after all. It's not all about the physical aspect of my partner, it's also about his mentality. I don't find myself wanting to be with a feminine or flambouyant man because those features don't appeal to me. I like men who are in touch with their masculine side, plain and simple."

Naruto hummed, taking a sip of his alcohol. He squinted at Sasuke who raised an eyebrow in response. "So, like, two dudes can date...and they can both be, like, regular dudes? Like, two bros who hang out and stuff but also do sex stuff?"

This actually got a chuckle out of Sasuke. It was a rare occurance and Naruto smiled at the sound. "Yes, of course. That's my ideal relationship actually."

"Sounds a lot easier than datin' a girl. They're a lot of maintainence, ya know." Naruto laughed. "I mean, as long as you're cool with dicks, I guess."

"I believe a man and woman could have the same sort of relationship. It just seems as though society teaches girls to be dependent and very in touch with their feminine side while men are taught to protect and take care of women. Which leads to gender roles in the relationship. I prefer that there are no 'roles', just two people who are equal to each other. Why put all the pressure of being strong and protective on one person? Why not both partners share the same responsibilities?"

"Yeah. I like that idea." Naruto said, smiling. "So, what's it like...to, um, ya know, _be_ with a guy?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just answer that?" He knew what Naruto meant. It was just more amusing to make him say it.

"No, no, like...um, in a _sex_ kind of way." He blushed and stared down into his glass.

"Oh, that?" Sasuke said cooly. "Now you're curious about the intimacy between two men?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, frowning. "Shut up."

"Okay."

"...But, seriously though. Isn't it weird?"

"Not at all. Well, not if you're attracted to men." Sasuke smirked, his lips pressed against the rim of his glass. He took a drink and set the empty glass on the coffee table.

"So are you a top or a bottom?" Did he really just ask that? Maybe he'd had too much to drink.

Sasuke eyes widened. "You really want to know all of this?"

Naruto shrugged.

"It depends." He sighed. "I prefer top, though."

Naruto hummed against his glass before taking a sip.

Sasuke stared at the blond, wondering what was going on in his head. Why was he asking all of these questions? How serious was he when he said that Sasuke made him curious? He was much more interested in the goings on of a homosexual relationship than a straight man should be. Perhaps he wasn't so far off when he wondered if Naruto could be bisexual.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"Now that you've had time to think about all of this, and you're comfortable with my sexuality, would you like to feed your curiousity a little more?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he bit his lip. "Huh? How?"

"Well, if you really want to know what it's like to be intimate with another man, I could show you. And this time, you'll be ready for it."

"Oh...uh, I dunno, Sasuke..." He blushed, staring off at something in the distance.

"You don't seem too opposed to the idea." Sasuke observed. "You aren't freaking out like you did before."

"I mean, I'm pretty open-minded and all. I just...well, I don't know."

"Are you attracted to me?"

"...Yes?"

Sasuke nodded. "Do you look at me differently than you'd normally look at another man?"

"...Sometimes."

"You said you were confused before. If you let me, I can help you sort that out."

Naruto swallowed nervously, pink dusting his cheeks. "Okay. Why the hell not? It's just bros bein' bros, right? You're just helpin' me figure somethin' out. S'not weird or anything..."

"Totally not weird." Sasuke smirked. He watched as Naruto set his glass aside and moved closer to him. His eyes were darker and his expression was unreadable, for once. Normally he could always tell exactly how the blond felt. But, in this moment he wasn't so sure. Although, by the way Naruto was eyeing Sasuke's lips, he had a pretty good idea.

Sasuke placed his hands on Naruto's hips, pulling him onto his lap. The blond tilted his head, biting his lip as he kept his eyes locked on Sasuke's mouth. Gently, Sasuke cupped his cheeks and pressed his lips against the others. He took it slow and easy this time, unlike before when he had been so rough and forceful. He grazed his tongue along the seam of Naruto's lips, requesting permission to enter. When the blond's lips parted, he slid his tongue inside and circled the others'.

The world seemed to melt around them, leaving them to be the only people in exsistence. Sasuke's hand pressed against the back of Naruto's head, his fingers entwining in his blond locks. He kissed him passionately, slowly lowering his hands to travel his body, slipping beneath his shirt and ghosting over his muscles.

Naruto broke away, breathing heavily. He stared at Sasuke with wide eyes. For a moment Sasuke thought they might have a repeat of the other night and began to pull away, giving him his space. Before he could say anything, Naruto threw his arms around Sasuke's neck and pressed their lips together, hungrily biting and licking the wounds before slipping his tongue into the raven's mouth.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, pulling him closer. He returned the agression of the other's eagerness. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. Naruto had kissed him back...sure, he was under the influence, but they had discussed this beforehand. Naruto was willing, and very into the moment. This was the moment he had dreamed of for years. And it was really happening.

He pressed his hands against Naruto's chest and pushed him onto his back. Breathing heavily, he straddled the blond's waist and placed a hand on his buldge before diving in for a kiss. They made out as Sasuke rubbed and squeezed Naruto's manhood, the blond gasping and moaning against the raven's lips.

Before things had gone too far, Sasuke broke away and leaned back, sitting between Naruto's thighs. Naruto sat up, touching his red, swollen lips as he gazed into Sasuke's obsidian eyes.

"I don't want to end up taking this too far." Sasuke said, placing a hand on Naruto's thigh and squeezing it. "I'm not that easy." He smirked, the blond laughed. "Still confused?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I can't tell if I'm even more confused or if I'm kinda gay for you."

"Probably both." And, cue that handsome smirk.

Naruto blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is still a lot to take in, though."

"I understand. I'll let you think on it. But, just know that I really do have feelings for you. Feelings that go deeper than a simple friendship."

Naruto swallowed, his cheeks burning. "Yeah. But, I dunno, maybe you should buy a guy a drink first? Show me you can be a gentleman and maybe I'll consider it." He laughed awkwardly, eyeing Sasuke's hand that was still resting on his thigh. Oh man, this really was confusing and completely new to him.

"Let me take you out on a date then. Saturday."

"What? Are you serious?" Naruto's eyes widened. He licked his lips as he searched Sasuke's face.

The raven shrugged. "You've never dated a guy before so that's why this makes you a little nervous and uncomfortable, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"So, I'll ease you into the idea. I won't try to pressure you or rush you into making a decision. I'll show you what it's like to date another man and you can decide for yourself if this is what you want. All I'm asking for is a chance."

"Okay." He smiled crookedly as Sasuke placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"We should get to bed. We've both got work in the morning." Sasuke stood from the couch and his vision immediately blurred and the room began spinning around him. He stumbled backwards and almost collapsed, before he could fall, Naruto stood and grabbed onto him.

"You drank too much again." Naruto said softly, supporting Sasuke's weight. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sasuke snapped. "Just a little dizzy. We've been sitting this whole time, it just hit me when I stood."

Naruto bit his lip and nodded. There was no point in starting an argument now, especially not while Sasuke was intoxicated. It could get ugly. So he kept his mouth shut and helped Sasuke to his room. With a grunt, Sasuke immedatialy flopped onto his bed, laying utop the covers and rolling onto his back.

"Come here." He said, eyes locked on Naruto's. When the blond continued to stand in the doorway and blink at him, he patted the spot next to him and raised an eyebrow. "I won't molest you, idiot. Come lay with me."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but succumbed to Sasuke's wishes. "We're pretty much already dating, ya know." He laughed softly as he yanked the covers up and crawled beneath them. Sasuke followed suit and when Naruto turned away from him, he wrapped his arms around him and burried his face in the crook of his neck.

Naruto sighed in contentment. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system, or maybe he had been supressing some interesting thoughts for a while, but this seemed so natural. Almost like this was where he belonged. He thought about their date on Saturday and a strange feeling began to bubble up inside of him. He was excited for it.


	6. The Other Side of Sasuke

**A/N: Sorry for that little hiatus. I've been a little out of sorts lately. Stuff and things happened and it was getting hard to focus on my writing. But, I'm back! Woo!**

 **Oh, and also, I don't remember if i've mentioned this before but Naruto's factory is based off of the one I work at. In case you were wondering why I chose that particular job for him...there's a saying, "Write what you know." So that's what I did lol**

 **DISCLAIMER: Kishi-sensei's characters. Any song lyrics used are not my own and I also don't own the song titles or artists mentioned. Wish I did though. That'd be freakin' cool, man.**

 **6\. The Other Side Of Sasuke**

-Saturday Evening-

Naruto wasn't quite sure how he survived the week. Between work and Iruka's constant checking in, he was going insane. Not to mention Sasuke's low-key paranoia. On the bright side, he had gotten Gamakichi back from the shop. Although, he wasn't getting his freedom back the way he thought he would be. He couldn't so much as drive to the gas station without a certain raven-haired man demanding he take no longer than 20 minutes. If he took longer than that, even by just a minute, he'd recieve a phone call and have a thousand questions to answer.

It wasn't that he wasn't greatful for the caring people in his life. He was glad to have such strong bonds that they would worry so much about him. But, he was feeling suffocated. Sasuke wasn't as obvious as Iruka, but, Naruto knew him well enough that he could tell when Sasuke was being protective or concerned. The changes in facial expressions, the tones of his voice, and certain questions he'd ask would give him away. Not to mention the controlling way he was with Naruto driving to the damn gas station.

And work. Oh God, work. It was awful. Business was beginning to slow down and the warehouse was pretty much full, so they had to clean all week. Cleaning for ten and a half hours a day not only made time go by very slowly, but was also extremely exhausting. He and Shikamaru had been forced to cram themselves into the mixer since they were the thinnest men there. And cleaning the mixer was probably the worst job they could have been given.

The mixer was a giant rotating ball that mixed the material with the chemicals they used before being sent to the bagger where it would then be deposited into bags. Because it held thousands of pounds of material and chemicals daily, and was only cleaned once every few months, it was always caked with fertilizer and smelled heavily of several different chemicals mixed together. A drill and scraper had to be used to get all of the gunk out.

It was a fucking nightmare. But, he somehow survived.

Friday had proved to be a challenge as well. He and Sasuke had spoken to his less-than-pleased landlord about ending his contract early. He wasn't getting his deposit back and then he had to move a bunch of heavy furniture. It was not a good day. Sasuke had rented him a storage unit to keep all of the extra things he wouldn't be needing anymore, and it pained him to have to say goodbye. He was already missing his apartment.

However, so far, living with Sasuke was kind of fun. They spent so much time together anyway, that it wasn't too much of a change. Despite missing his apartment, he did enjoy the company. And, it wasn't as if he didn't get plenty of space. Sasuke was a very busy man, so, he'd often lock himself away in his office, which allowed Naruto to have time to himself. When Sasuke wasn't working, they'd hang out. They did the usual activities, like playing video games or cards, working out, ordering take-out, watching crappy movies. It was nice.

They didn't argue much. Other than Naruto's annoyance with all of the overprotective-ness. And despite the events of Naruto's first night there, things weren't really awkward like he feared they might be. The morning after, they'd discussed what happened over coffee and agreed to not let it change anything. And, truth be told, it really didn't. They had gone about each day like normal.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if things seemed normal because they were just being 'buddies' like usual, or if their 'normal' was already something more than 'buddies' in the first place. It was hard to tell. Why hadn't he noticed this before? When he really thought about it, he had always been very close to Sasuke and they were often the target of 'gay jokes' around their other friends.

There must have been a valid reason for that.

He laughed softly and shook the thoughts away. It was six-thirty in the afternoon and Sasuke would be home soon. He'd been called into the office earlier and promised that when he got back, they'd go on their date. Just thinking about that made his stomach do flips. Was Sasuke really giving him butterflies right now?

He sighed and pulled open a dresser drawer, rummaging through it's contents. It was like deja vu. He didn't have jack shit to wear. Blond eyebrows furrowed as he held up a dark orange, almost red, sweater to his chest in front of the mirror. It was pretty much the only article of clothing he owned that could be considered suitable for a date, so it would have to do.

And now for the pants. He dived back into his drawers, pushing aside several pairs of work jeans until he found a pair of khaki pants. He really hated those things. But, again, it would have to do. He slid them on, along with the sweater, and observed himself in the mirror.

"I look like a fuckin' tool." He cringed.

"I think you look adorable."

Naruto whipped around to find the source of sarcasm leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face.

"You're home." Naruto blushed, scratching the bridge of his nose. So much for things not being awkward.

"I am." Sasuke confirmed.

"So, uh..date night, huh?" He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It is." Sasuke straightened up. "I'm going to shower and get changed. You can finish getting ready while you're waiting."

"...Finish?" The blond frowned. He thought he _was_ ready. That bastard.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "How are you still single?"

"Fuck you and your sarcasm, you asshole." Naruto slammed the dresser drawer shut and plopped down on his bed, arms crossed.

Sasuke laughed quietly and disappeared down the hall. Moments later, Naruto heard the shower turn on and decided to use the guest bathroom to do something about his hair. He shuffled down the hallway and flipped on the lightswitch. Behind the mirror, there were several of the Uchiha's hair products and a couple bottles of cologne. He scratched the back of his head as he read the labels. He had no idea what any of them were for or how to use them. All he knew was that Sasuke had way too much of this shit, expecially since this wasn't even the half of it. The products he used regularly were in his personal bathroom.

With a sigh and shrug, he plucked a random bottle from the shelf and emptied a small amount onto his palm. He stared at the blob incredulously as if it were some mysterious space object. What was he even doing, anyway? Not entirely sure if this was it's intended purpose, he pushed his fringe back with it. To his surprise, it actually stayed put.

He took in his mirrored image and frowned. He'd never pushed his hair back before, so it looked a little strange to him. Not bad, per se, just different. He played with it a little more, swooping his bangs over to one side while still keeping them up off of his forehead. That looked better to him, more his style. Well, not really, but better than pushed straight back. That was something the snobby rich kids did in the movies. Totally not his style.

Satisfied with his hair, he returned to his room and searched his still-packed boxes for a bottle of cologne. Three boxes, a stubbed toe, and string of curse words later, he found the one he was looking for. It was a gift from Sasuke a few Christmases ago that he'd been saving because it was so expensive that it made him not even want to use it. But, he supposed this was a worthy enough occasion.

He spritzed himself and almost died when he inhaled. It was probably the sexiest scent that had ever graced his nostrils. No wonder he wanted to make it last as long as possible. Damn, Sasuke knew his fancy man smells. He shuffled back over to the mirror and took in his appearance again. Why was he so worried about what he looked like? It was just Sasuke, right? But still, for some reason, he really wanted to look nice.

He felt like something was off. He didn't look like himself. Well, that was probably a good thing, he thought. Nevertheless, he still wanted to add a little something to his look that was more 'him'. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and pulled his pants down lower on his hipbones. Pleased with the change-up, he opted for a dark colored cloth belt that he slipped through the loops and tightened in place. Ah, yes, that was much better.

Since Sasuke was still getting ready, he pulled out his handy-dandy PSP and flopped onto the bed. Several minutes passed as he played his game before he heard footsteps approaching. When he looked up, his jaw dropped. Suddenly he felt like he resembled a garbage can.

Because compared to this absolute God standing in front of him, he felt like a mere peasant.

Sasuke leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, with that arrogant smirk plastered across his face that just screamed 'I'm sexy and I know it'. His hair was styled perfectly, his fringe framing his face in a way that complimented his features very nicely, the back of his hair spiked and slightly messy. He was wearing a pair of form fitting dark wash skinny jeans that looked freshy bought and a white button up shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, the first two buttons left undone. His shirt was partially tucked in, revealing a black studded belt, and he was sporting a leather wrist band on his left arm.

"Damn it, Sasuke." Naruto shook his head. "You did this on purpose."

The raven raised an eyebrow. "Did what?" He pushed off of the doorframe and approached the blond, holding out his hand. "Are you ready?"

"Not anymore." Naruto took his hand and stood, continuing to stare at his date.

"Why is that?"

"'Cause compared to you, I-"

"You look good." Sasuke said firmly. "I like how you styled your hair, actually. I didn't think you were capable."

"There you go again."

"What?"

"Coverin' up your compliments with insults!" Naruto pouted, crossing his arms.

"Old habit." He shrugged. He reached out for Naruto's sweater and adjusted it, straightening out the wrinkles. "Ready?"

Naruto swallowed nervously. "Yeah, I guess."

"Don't sound so excited, dork."

Naruto stuck his tongue out in retaliation before following the Uchiha out. Once in the garage, Sasuke unlocked the Viper, which earned him an exclaimation from the starstruck blond, and opened the door for him. Naruto stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised, before sliding into the passenger seat.

"Such a gentleman." Naruto teased.

"Shut up, do-" He paused and sighed. "Look, this is a date. I want to make sure there is no mistaking it. The whole point is to see if this kind of relationship is something you want with me so..." A light pink hue dusted his cheeks and he looked away. "You can have the AUX cord. Play whatever you want."

Naruto's cheeks turned pink as well. He nodded and grabbed his iPod from the center console, plugging it in and scrolling through his playlists. His mind wandered as he chose a random list, so far this date was feeling sort of weird to him. But, at the same time, he had to admit that it was the normal kind of weird. It was the same as when he'd take out a cute girl and feel nervous about every little thing.

 _"I am a lion, and I want to be free_  
 _Do you see a lion when you look inside of me?_  
 _Outside the window, just to watch you as you sleep_  
 _Cause I am a lion, born from things you cannot be."_

"Hollywood Undead?"

"Do you like this song? 'Cause I can change it if-"

"No, I like it."

"It's kind of a downer for a date, though." Naruto thought aloud as he began searching for a different song that better fit the occasion. "How about this?"

 _"Shake shake just shake shake_  
 _Just shake shake_  
 _Just shake chica shake shake_  
 _Shake shake just shake shake_  
 _Just shake shake_  
 _Just shake chica shake shake_

 _Mentirosa_  
 _Mentirosa_  
 _Mentirosa_  
 _Dale huevo_  
 _Dale huevo"_

Sasuke almost face-palmed. "Shake? Yin Yang Twins featuring Pitbull? Really?"

"It gets me pumped. I know you're trying really hard not to dance since you're drivin'. But, it's okay, I can grab the wheel if you start goin' all Shakira-Shakira on me." Naruto grinned wide as Sasuke glared daggers, clearly not amused.

"I changed my mind. I choose the music." He snatched the iPod from Naruto's hand and selected his desired song, half watching the road as he did so.

" _Scream. Shout._

 _Scream. Shout._

 _We are the fallen angels."_

"Sasuke, you are so fuckin' emo."

"What? You don't like Black Veil Brides?"

"They're emo." He pouted, crossing his arms.

"You're the one being emo."

"So where are you taking me?" Naruto asked, fiddling with his seatbelt.

"You'll find out when we get there."

"It better not be somewhere totally gay."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, _you're_ gay. So, you'll probably pick somewhere just as gay as you are."

"I'm offended."

"Don't care." Naruto stuck his tongue out.

"You know, you're being kind of gay right now too. You're going on a date with another man. And, if I recall, you were definitely making out with me not even a week ago."

"Ah, touche, bastard." Naruto laughed. "I guess this is pretty gay, huh? Especially since I about lost my mind when you walked into my room earlier."

"You about lost your mind? What do you mean by that exactly?"

"Nothing. Nevermind."

"Well, now I'm curious. Enlighten me."

"Mmm...nope. I don't think I'm gonna. I don't want to make your ego any bigger than it already is."

"You think I'm hot."

"What? No way. You're a troll."

"You must have a troll fetish then."

"Oh my God."

"You know it's true."

"Take me home. I don't want to go on a date with you anymore."

Sasuke stepped on the gas in response, accelerating by almost twenty miles per hour.

Wherever Sasuke was taking Naruto, it was in the city. Which didn't really suprise the blond much. After all, Sasuke worked in the city, so he knew it well. They were walking out of the parking garage now and suddenly a strange feeling bubbled up inside of Naruto. It was those damn nerves again. God, why was he so nervous?

"It's only a block down from here." Sasuke said cooly.

Naruto walked at his side looking up at all the buildings. He'd always loved the way the city looked at night. Although, being there at night always made him a little skiddish because the crime rate was pretty high. Well, they were in a pretty safe area of the city, but still.

"You look nervous. Don't be." Sasuke nudged him.

"I'm not nervous." Naruto argued. "But, um, there aren't a lot of gangs around here, are there?"

"Do you honestly believe I'd take you into a dangerous part of the city on our first date?"

"Well...no."

"That's reserved for around our fifth date, at least."

"What?!"

"Well, I've got to keep things interesting, don't I? Show off my fighting skills and protect you from the bad guys so you think I'm some kind of strong knight in shining armor."

"I hate you."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, reaching out for a lock of blond hair and tugging it lightly.

"That's domestic abuse, asshole."

"You're cute."

"What?"

"I said, you're an idiot."

"Jerk."

They hadn't walked much further before Sasuke led Naruto into a building. It was labeled as a law firm, which confused Naruto. What were they doing in a building like this? He observed the different doors they passed, each with a sign indicating some department of legal business. Everything was very professional looking. The walls were a plain eggshell white and the floors were furnished with a deep blue carpeting.

"Um, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"What are we doing in this place?"

"Having dinner, obviously."

Naruto blinked at the raven. "D-dinner? In a law firm?"

"Don't be stupid."

"But-"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, Sasuke turned down a hallway and led him towards a door at the end with a sign above labeled 'Stacks'. There was a mouth watering scent coming from the place and Naruto was even more confused than he was prior to finding the restaurant. What the hell was this place doing in a law firm? How did anyone ever find out about it?

"Through word of mouth." Sasuke said, answering Naruto's thoughts. He must have noticed the confusion on his face.

He opened the large, antique-looking, wooden door and stepped aside, letting Naruto enter first. The blond looked around in astonishment. It looked like an old library that had been slightly altered into a restaurant. The walls had spots where brick was exposed and bookshelves were pressed up along them. The tables were the same standard thick wooden tables found in any oudated library, the lighting was dim, and the floors were done with dark stained wood.

A peppy woman with oversized black-rimmed glasses and highheel shoes approached them, smiling brightly. "Good evening!" She greeted. "Table for two?"

"Yes, please." Sasuke answered.

"Right this way!" She led them towards the back and placed them at a table in the corner. "My name is Amane. I'll be back in just a moment for your drink orders." She handed each of them a laminated sheet of paper. "Any questions about our selection, just let me know." She smiled brightly once more before trotting off to assist another table.

"So?" Sasuke asked, smirking and leaning back with his arms crossed.

"Um, woah." Naruto answered, letting his eyes scan the room again. He silently admired the decor and started noticing more 'library-like' things. "This place is really neat. Pretty cool how it's all hidden. Like a secret clubhouse or somethin'." He chuckled.

"I thought you'd find it interesting."

"Well, yeah. I mean, not your typical restaurant."

Sasuke nodded in agreement before picking up his drink menu. "They've got all kinds of different beer here." He explained. "They're all craft beers and I think it's safe to bet you've never heard of any of them."

Naruto perked up at the mention of craft beer and picked up his menu. "Dude...what even are these? They've all got wierd names and I have no idea what any of these descriptions are talking about." He scratched the back of his head as he squinted at the mysterious words.

"Most of them are imported but there's some from U.S. breweries, too. I'd reccomend you get the Well's Banana Bread beer or the Not Your Father's Rootbeer. I think you'd like those since you've got a sweet tooth."

"Banana bread beer?"

"It tastes like banana bread."

"Not your father's rootbeer?"

"It tastes like rootbeer."

"Wow. Thanks for clearing that up."

"No problem. So, are you interested in either of those?"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna go with the rootbeer one."

"Good choice."

Seconds later, their waitress returned, pulling a notepad from her apron. "Have the two of you decided on a drink?" Her attention was directed at Sasuke. Either she was interested in him herself, or she picked up on his leadership-like attitude.

"Yeah. He'll have the Not Your Father's Rootbeer, and I'll have the Three Floyd's Gumballhead." He collected Naruto's menu as he spoke, handing the both of them to the waitress once she finished scribbling down their orders.

"Excellent choices." She commented, smiling brightly as she accepted the menus. "I'll be back with them in just a moment." She bounced away again, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor.

"Gumballhead?" Naruto laughed. It didn't seem like a very fitting drink for someone like Sasuke.

"It tastes a lot like grapefruit." He explained. "Three Floyds is actually my favorite brand. I'll take you to their brewery sometime, it's not far from where we live. It's hidden in an industrial park."

"Grapefruit, huh? So, it's bitter. That explains why you'd like it." He sniggered as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him. "And what's with you and secret hidden places all of a sudden?"

"I like to be mysterious. You like the mysterious type, right?" He smirked.

"Hm. I do." Naruto agreed, reaching for the food menu. He scanned the options and frowned. "You're gonna have to help me pick something to eat too. I'm confused again. What is this stuff?"

"I thought you might say something like that." Sasuke said. "But, trust me when I say that it doesn't matter what you choose, it'll taste good."

"I don't know..." Naruto wasn't so easily convinced.

"It all sounds strange, I know." Sasuke admitted. "But, somehow everything they offer turns out to be amazing. Even if you aren't sure about your choice. Actually, it's especially when you aren't sure of your choice that it tastes the best."

"In that case, can you just pick somethin' for me? You seem like you know this place pretty well, so I trust you."

"Sure." Sasuke smiled. "I won't let you end up with something you don't like."

"Awesome." Naruto grinned, pushing his menu towards Sasuke. "Don't screw up."

"I told you already, that's impossible. Everything here is good."

"It better be."

"Brat."

Their waitress returned just in time to catch Naruto sticking his tongue out at Sasuke, and she giggled cutely. "Um, are you two ready to place your order?" She asked playfully.

Sasuke nodded, handing the menus to her for the final time that evening. "He'll have the Osso Bucco, and I'll have the Blackened Salmon."

"Alright, great!" She said cheerfully, scribbling along her notepad. "I'll have those out for you shortly. Is there anything else I can get you while you're waiting?"

"No, we're fine, thank you."

The waitress smiled and nodded before rushing off again. Naruto couldn't help but notice that business had picked up considerably since their arrival. For being in such a weird location, this place sure was popular.

"Osso Bucco, huh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, Sasuke, sounds pretty weird. I think you've already totally ruined our date." He crossed his arms and looked away, eyes shut tight.

"We'll see about that." Sasuke smirked.

The night air was crisp, a light breeze dancing around them as they walked. Naruto was practically bouncing beside Sasuke, his cheeks stained pink from the alcohol. He was clearly a little buzzed.

"I can't believe how awesome that place was!" He said cheerfully. "I wasn't so sure about that weird stuff you ordered for me, but fuck, you were right. Their food may be weird, but it's so freakin' tasty. And that rootbeer...beer...thing was awesome! Way stronger than I thought it would be, too."

"I told you. I wouldn't take you somewhere I didn't think you'd like. And, yes, it is pretty strong, you probably shouldn't have drank three of them. You're a total lightweight." He pushed his bangs behind his ears, slightly irritated with the pesky wind that was having way too much fun.

"But they were so gooood!" Naruto laughed, putting his hands behind his head. "So now where are we going? You said you had something else planned."

"You'll see when we get there." Sasuke said, smirking devilishly.

"Oh, come on! Seriously? Just tell me! I wanna know!"

"I'll give you a hint."

"Yay!"

"It's loud."

"What? That's the hint? Seriously?"

"Yes. That's all you get. I'm not giving you any more, you're lucky I've said that much."

"Yeah, I mean, you practically already gave it away." Naruto crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.

Sasuke flicked him on the forehead. Naruto attempted to retaliate, but the raven snatched his hand with cat-like reflexes. He held onto the hand as he led Naruto around the corner and squeezed it lightly when Naruto tried to pull away.

"No." He said firmly. "You won't behave, so this is your punishment."

"Okie dokie, Kink-Master." Naruto laughed.

"What?"

"That's totally your new nickname since you're such a kinky fuck." Naruto explained, continuing to laugh.

"You think this is funny? You don't even know what I'm like in the bedroom...yet. You won't be finding my kinks very funny once I show them to you."

"Oh my God, Sasuke. This is a totally new side of you. I didn't think you were even capable of being sexy. Well, on purpose, anyway."

"Hn. Well, I guess there's a few sides of me you aren't familiar with yet. I'll have to fix that."

For some reason, be it the words themselves or the tone in which they were spoken, that statement struck fear in the blond. He stared wide-eyed at the raven, mouth gaping. "Uh...you aren't going to drag me into a back ally and murder me, are you? Holy shit! You took me to that Stacks place because it was supposed to be my last meal! It's just like in the movies!"

"Or, I'm trying to show you a good time and make you happy, because it's what you deserve." Sasuke said, his tone completely serious.

Naruto wasn't sure how to respond to that. He blushed and looked away, scratching the back of his head. It felt strange to be the one on the recieving end of a date. It felt even more strange to be treated this way. And by his male best friend, no less. He glanced at Sasuke who was walking with confidence, his head up and shoulders back, intense look in his eyes. He looked perfect, like the kind of guy anyone would kill to be with. He held such an air of confidence and maturity, he was sexy and mysterious. All without even trying to be.

And of all the people he could have chosen, he chose Naruto.

The blond bit his lip, suddenly he was feeling insecure. How could someone like Sasuke be interested in someone like him? He was just a scrub, and Sasuke was like a rockstar.

"It's in this building." Sasuke broke the silence, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"The place I'm taking you. It's here." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You feeling okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry." He laughed awkwardly, scratching the bridge of his nose.

Sasuke nodded and opened the glass door that led to their destination. He let Naruto enter first and followed after him, almost bumping into the blond due to the fact that he'd immediately froze at the sight before him.

"Oh. My. God." His azure eyes were as wide as saucers, sparkling magnificenly. They were in an arcade. Not just any arcade. A two-story arcade with every game you could imagine, from classic games to the most recently released. Clicks, bangs, shouts, and laughter filled the air and various colored lights flashed all around them. He was in his own personal heaven.

Sasuke smirked, pressing his hand against Naruto's lower back and pushing him forward. "Go crazy. We'll stay as long as you want."

The blond scanned his surroundings, not sure what he wanted to do first. If he could, he'd clone himself and do everything all at once. But, since that wasn't an option, he opted for air-hockey since there was an open table and it was a two player game. If possible, he didn't want to do anything without Sasuke. After all, he'd been so amazing tonight, ignoring him just seemed rude.

Sasuke followed his overly-excited date towards the open air-hockey table. He smirked to himself as Naruto practically bounced up and down as he inserted the coins. He grabbed the plastic red disk from the deposit slot and twirled it between his fingers before placing it on the table.

"You ready to get your ass kicked?" He asked the blond.

Naruto puffed out his chest, slamming his fist against it. "Bring it on, fuckbag! I totally got this!"

"Fuckbag? Your insults get more interesting by the day." He laughed softly before crashing his mallet into the puck. The smooth disk flew across the table at lightening speed, falling into the goal at Naruto's end. Sasuke perked up, smirking and placing a hand on his hip. "Show me what you're made of, Naruto."

The blond grumbled as he snatched the puck from the return slot. He slammed it on the table and hit it with as much force as he could muster. It slid right into Sasuke's mallet and returned to him before he even got a chance to blink, flying right past his mallet and falling back into the goal.

"Ah, fuck!" Naruto cursed, stomping his feet as he grabbed the puck again. He placed it down in front of him and took a deep breath, an attempt to get focussed that might have worked had he not been a little tipsy from earlier. "You're goin' down, bastard." He practically growled the words as he smacked the puck as hard as he could.

Sasuke had just barely blinked before the puck flashed by him and fell into the goal. His eyes narrowed and lips curled into a smirk as he retrieved the puck, laughing softly. The look in his eyes practically screamed 'It's on!'.

The house was dark, save for the dim moonlight glowing against the hardwood flooring. Clothes lay scattered in a trail that led from the front door to Sasuke's bedroom door which stood wide open.

"This is for beating me at air-hockey." Sasuke growled, shoving Naruto onto his bed. He stradled the blond's hips as he clawed at his tan chest.

Naruto grinned wryly, "As if you ever stood a chance, bastard." He gasped as Sasuke bent over him and sunk his teeth into his collarbone. "Fuck."

A pale hand slid down a tan, muscular thigh. "Is this okay?" Sasuke asked before brushing his slender fingers across the length of Naruto's manhood.

Scarred cheeks turned pink. "Yeah." He swallowed his nerves before grabbing the back of Sasuke's head, pulling him in for a kiss. "This is definitely okay."

 **A/N: Ohhhh snippity snap! Looks like Sasuke finally won Naruto over! Haha, okay, I'm done being a dork, sorry. Anyway, a little side note here, that place they go to eat 'Stack's' is a real place and it's fucking awesome. There's one about 40 minutes from where I live and it really is hidden in some weird business building place and it's cool as hell. Weird food but it tastes good and tons of different kinds of beer. Just thought that was super neat and would make a cute first date. Well, love you guys, thanks for sticking with me! Hope you liked the chapter! I'll be back eventually ;) hang in there kiddos. xoxo**


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